Legislative Assembly of Samoa

"Fono" redirects here. For other uses, see Fono (disambiguation).

Legislative Assembly of Samoa Fono

Type
Type	Unicameral
Structure
Seats	50

Political groups	HRPP: 47 seats Tautua Samoa: 3 seats
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Meeting place
Apia
Website
www.palemene.ws

Samoa

This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Samoa
Constitution O le Ao o le Malo (head of state) Tufuga Efi Prime Minister Tuilaepa A. S. Malielegaoi Cabinet Legislative Assembly Speaker: L. L. P. Fosi Members Political parties Recent elections General: 2006 2011 2016 Administrative divisions Foreign relations
Other countries Atlas

The Legislative Assembly is the Parliament of Samoa based in the capital, Apia, where the country's central administration is situated.

In the Samoan language, the Legislative Assembly of Samoa is sometimes referred to as the Samoan Fono while the government of the country is referred to as the Malo.

The word fono is a Samoan and Polynesian term for councils or meetings great and small and applies to national assemblies and legislatures, as well as local village councils.

The modern government of Samoa exists on a national level alongside the country's fa'amatai indigenous chiefly system of governance and social organisation.^[1]

History

Members of the First Legislative Assembly of Samoa under New Zealand administration, circa 1921.

The Samoan Fono is descended from the Western Samoa Legislative Assembly established under New Zealand rule in the early 1900s. On the country's political independence in 1962, the 5th Legislative Assembly became the 1st Samoan Parliament.^[2]

Members of Parliament

The Samoan Fono has 50 Members of Parliament. 47 members are matai (traditional heads of families), elected in six two-seat and 35 single-seat constituencies. The other 2 Members are elected by, and represent, individual voters, i.e. "Samoan citizens descended from non-Samoans".^[3] An extra Member of Parliament was added after the 2016 election in order to meet the quota of 10% female MPs.^[4]

Members of Parliament in Samoa are directly elected by universal suffrage, and serve a five-year term.

Head of State

The Head of State or O le Ao o le Malo is elected for a five-year term by the Fono.

Elections

Elections are held under a simple plurality system. Samoan electors are divided into six two-seat and 35 single-seat constituencies. In addition, two seats are reserved for "individual voters", non-indigenous citizens who may not hold a chiefly title or any customary interest in Samoan land.

Electors must be Samoan citizens and aged over 21.^[5] Candidates must be qualified as electors, and in addition those for territorial seats must hold a matai title.^[6]

Last election results

Main article: Samoan general election, 2016

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Human Rights Protection Party	45,816	57.30	35	+6
	Tautua Samoa Party	6,432	8.04	2	–11
	Independents	27,704	34.65	13	+6
Invalid/blank votes			–	–	–
Total		79,952	100	50	+1
Registered voters/turnout				–	–
Source: OEC

Other functions

The Fono is responsible for electing the O le Ao o le Malo, the Samoan head of state.

Terms of the Fono

The Fono is currently in its 14th term.

Term	Elected in	Government
1st Legislative Assembly	1948 election	No parties
2nd Legislative Assembly	1951 election	No parties
3rd Legislative Assembly	1954 election	No parties
4th Legislative Assembly	1957 election	No parties
5th Legislative Assembly / 1st Parliament	1961 election	No parties
2nd Parliament	1964 election	No parties
3rd Parliament	1967 election	No parties
4th Parliament	1970 election	No parties
5th Parliament	1973 election	No parties
6th Parliament	1976 election	No parties
7th Parliament	1979 election	No parties
8th Parliament	1982 election	Human Rights Protection Party
9th Parliament	1985 election	Human Rights Protection Party / Christian Democratic Party (Samoa)
10th Parliament	1988 election	Human Rights Protection Party
11th Parliament	1991 election	Human Rights Protection Party
12th Parliament	1996 election	Human Rights Protection Party
13th Parliament	2001 election	Human Rights Protection Party
14th Parliament	2006 election	Human Rights Protection Party
15th Parliament	2011 election	Human Rights Protection Party
16th Parliament	2016 election	Human Rights Protection Party

Building

Main article: Architecture of Samoa

The Fono is housed in a bee-hive shaped building based on the traditional Samoan fale.

References

↑ Fana'afi Le Tagaloa, Aiono (1986). Western Samoa the Sacred Covenant. Land rights of Pacific women. University of the South Pacific;Institute of Pacific Studies. p. 103. ISBN 982-02-0012-1. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
↑ Parliament of Samoa: general information Archived June 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ "Samoa PM accused of racism over anti-Chinese remark". Radio New Zealand International. 21 January 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
↑ . 11 March 2016 http://www.talamua.com/faaulusau-rosa-duffy-stowers-secures-5th-parliamentary-seat-for-women/. Retrieved 16 March 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ Electoral Act 1963, s16 Archived March 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Electoral Act 1963, s5 Archived October 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

Official website

Parliaments of Oceania

Sovereign states	Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

Associated states of New Zealand	Cook Islands Niue

Dependencies and other territories	American Samoa Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Easter Island French Polynesia Guam Hawaii New Caledonia Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Pitcairn Islands Tokelau Wallis and Futuna

National unicameral legislatures

Federal	Comoros Iraq Federated States of Micronesia Nepal Saint Kitts and Nevis United Arab Emirates Venezuela

Unitary	Albania Andorra Angola Armenia Azerbaijan Bangladesh Benin Botswana Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad China Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Denmark Djibouti Dominica East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Eritrea Estonia Fiji Finland Gambia Georgia Ghana Greece Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Honduras Hungary Iceland Iran Israel Kiribati North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malawi Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritius Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Mozambique Nauru New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Norway Panama Papua New Guinea Peru Portugal Qatar Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Solomon Islands Sri Lanka Suriname Sweden Syria Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine Vanuatu Vatican City Vietnam Yemen Zambia

Dependent and other territories	Åland Islands Anguilla Aruba British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Falkland Islands Faroe Islands French Polynesia Gibraltar Greenland Guam Guernsey Hong Kong Jersey Macau Montserrat New Caledonia Pitcairn Islands Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint-Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Sint Maarten Tokelau Turks and Caicos Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Wales Wallis and Futuna

Non-UN states	Abkhazia Cook Islands Kosovo Nagorno-Karabakh Niue Northern Cyprus Palestine Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic South Ossetia Taiwan Transnistria

Historical	Scotland South African Republic

Related	Bicameralism List of legislatures by country

National bicameral legislatures National lower houses National upper houses

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/17/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.