By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
So what can we take from the New Zealand Labour Party’s landslide general elections win last night?
PM Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party stays on as the New Zealand Government in power by an unbeatable margin. To the victor goes the spoils or words to that effect.
The HRPP is the party in power for Samoa. Is there a possible parallel in there for both parties that could be repeated in our 2021 General Elections by PM Tuilaepa’s HRPP party?
Anything is possible. Just don’t say that out loud or it could turn ugly for those with political loyalties to other parties.
To be on the safe side we will just have to wait and see how polling turns out.
Congratulations, however, to the New Zealand Labour party for their big win. At least they can sit back and start cranking up the governing engines for another power blast.
For us in Samoa we are just starting to warm up. No big deal really with a few more months to go. The clock ticks faster the closer we get to E-Day.
The HRPP is ahead on the candidates count as of last Friday. We know that for sure but we have the rest of this week before Faimalomatumua closes the candidates roll next Friday.
The PM as party leader has already announced up to 120 names listed in their candidates roll.
As of Friday 35 have officially registered so maybe the rest are running for Electoral Constituencies in Upolu.
A small note of interest! Did the Samoa First Political Party register any candidates in Savaii last week?
The HRPP, Tautua Samoa, FAST and a few independents were reported but no Samoa First candidates. Maybe they have changed their minds and joined the FAST coalition.
One of their members said earlier they were on their own after parting ways with another political party that had opted to join the coalition.
Samoa First, however, was standing strong as an independent party and were organising their candidates in Savaii where most of their members are from.
Moving along! We have 8 women candidates who have raised their hands, ready to run in the election race. Must check up on the candidates from the 2016 general election to see what the total ladies head count was.
The report is that 7 registered from Savaii so that means one added her name last Friday in Upolu.
Have to agree with the happy smiling faces of the Savaii candidates who were spared the costs of travel to Apia to register.
Even a hardcore opposition member like Salega MP Olo Fiti Vaai was dancing around at Salelologa in praise of the HRPP Government.
All that money he saved jingled and jangled in his pocket by staying in Savaii rather than sailing to Apia with all of his ‘supporters’.
As a voter or elector how can we get away from being forced to vote if none of the candidates is good enough for your vote? It will cost you $100 if you don’t vote.
There has been a lot of talk by many of the voters that it will cost more than $100, especially to travel between the islands to vote.
By the time the boat fares and money for the aunts, uncles, cousins and other distant relatives in the village are added up, it will be much cheaper to pay the $100 and stay home.
Will online voting offer a better solution? If it means saving on costs then it would be the way to go but it will still not solve having to vote for candidates you don’t believe in.
You can always tick outside the box and invalidate your vote. But what is the point of going to all that expense to waste your vote by deliberately making it invalid?
Will it matter if they add in another box for the party you would prefer to vote for in lieu of the candidates.
If they have two candidates from the same party running that should be easy enough to decide who should get your vote.
Flip a coin and one of them calls head or tails. Even if there are three or four of them each one takes a turn. Last one standing wins your vote.
Seriously, what harm is there in having a choice whether to vote or not? You still have to live by the laws of the land.
You are still a law abiding citizen not an angry revolutionist planning to create political chaos by threatening to overthrow the Government in protest at being forced to vote.
When the HRPP returns to power they should add to their political philosophy that What is good for the candidates is not always good for the non-voters.
Lord can you grant us non-voters some of your peace on your day of rest?
