Eni seeks fourth

term in congress

The big political battle in American Samoa this November is Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega’s bid for another two years in the US House of

Representatives.

The third-term Democrat holds a seat which gives the island a voice in the House, a vote in important committee matters and in party caucuses, but no vote on the final passage of bills on the House Floor. It is also the second most powerful position in the territory (after the governorship) and comes with a

nearly million-dollar-a-year budget.

Far and away the most prominent of his four opponents is Amata Coleman Radewagen, the former Governor’s daughter, already a power within the

Mainland Republican Party.

The other three candidates for the seat, all men, are: High chief Fai’ivae Galea’i a former member of the island’s senate and a relative of Faleomavaega; former boxer Unasa Leroy Ledoux,who once lost a race for the island’s Lower House; and Tuika Tuika, a former mem ber of the Territorial House.

This year’s congressional race has raised few burning issues. Fai’ivae, for example, wrote a letter to President Clinton that was published in the Samoa News and used that vehicle to report his successful efforts of 22 years earlier to secure the discharge from the US Army of a man who then helped build Samoa’s golf course. (The candi date did not mention that the golf course, which often had an over-stuffed payroll, was a consistent money loser, and a subject of controversies in the Lutali-Coleman race.) Fai’ivae in the same letter raised a more pressing issue, the current sad shape of airline serving the islands.

Ledoux, another high chief, was a ter ritorial civil servant for many years, and was director of Parks and Recreation in both the Lutali and Coleman administra tions. His campaign announcement also boasted of his role in the construction of the money-losing golf course.

Tuika Tuika, who was a member of the legislature for a single term in the mid 80s, is the only one of the four who has run territory-wide. He got about three percent of the vote two years ago, and is not regarded as a major threat to the

incumbent.

In the campaign, Faleomavaega has stressed the utility of his role as an expe rienced legislator and as a Democrat working with the Democratic majority in the US House of Representatives, and with both a Democratic president and Democratic governor (Lutali).

He has also spoken of his success in bringing federal funds to Samoa, open ing up, for example, both a federally sub sidised housing loan program for former members of the US armed forces, and a federally-supported food stamp pro gram for the elderly and the disabled Another theme is that he has gone to bat for the region, not just American Samoa; he takes credit for blocking the closure of the American diplomatic mis sion in Apia, which was due for the axe a few months ago. Similarly, he secured funding for a new university scholar ship program for young people from the independent nations of the Pacific.

Whoever wins the election will have the dubious distinction of representing fewer people than any other member of the US House of Representatives. Many Mainland races attract 100,000 to 200.000 voters, but two years ago only 12.000 people voted in Samoa. This year there will be fewer votes than ever, as reform-minded Lutali administration has forced all voters to either register or re validated their prior registration. There had been wide-spread suspicion that some to many voters were really not

qualified, particularly those voting by

absentee ballot. It is not clear which candidate, if any, will benefit from the reduced size of the electorate.

American samoa will also elect the members of the Territorial House of rep resentatives for two-year terms; unlike Guam and the Mainland, these races are not fought along party lines.

The Senate in American Samoa is an anomaly in US Flag politics, as most res idents of the territory cannot vote for its members. Only chiefs or matai can vote; virtually no women hold these titles, and most males do not either. This would probably be found contrary to the US constitution, but that is not a potential variable this year, as the next selection of senators will take place late in 1996.