General elections were held in
Western Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabit ...
on 22 February 1985. Voting was restricted to ''
matai'' and citizens of European origin ("individual voters"), with the matai electing 45 MPs and Europeans two.
Dieter Nohlen
Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...
, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p782 The result was a victory for the
Human Rights Protection Party
The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP, ) is a Samoan political party. It was founded in 1979 and dominated Samoan party politics for decades thereafter, leading every government until their defeat in 2021. Former Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele ...
, which won 31 seats.
[Govt. party has easy win in Samoa poll]
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', April 1985, p7 Its leader,
Tofilau Eti Alesana
Tofilau Eti Alesana (born ''Aualamalefalelima Alesana''; 4 June 1924 – 19 March 1999) was a Samoan politician who served as the fifth prime minister of Samoa from 1982 to 1985, and again from 1988 until his resignation in 1998.
Biography
B ...
, remained Prime Minister.
Results
Fifteen of the 47 elected MPs were new to the Legislative Assembly. Minister of Health
Lavea Lio lost his seat.
[
]
Aftermath
Following the elections the HRPP held a two-day conference on 25–26 February at which it re-elected Tofilau Eti Alesana as its candidate for Prime Minister.[ On 7 March Va'ai Kolone resigned from the party.][Kolone resignation may upset Eti rule]
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', April 1985, p23 On 9 March the Legislative Assembly elected Alesana Prime Minister; he was the only candidate after Kolone declined to be nominated. Nonumalo Sofara was re-elected as Speaker.[
However, in December Alesana's 1986 budget was rejected by the Assembly with 27 votes against and 19 supporting. As the ]head of state
A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of state
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
refused to dissolve the Assembly, Alesana resigned as Prime Minister on 27 December. Kolone, now leader of the opposition coalition, was then elected Prime Minister.[Apia: Vaai Kolone back as P.M.]
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', February 1986, p8
See also
*
References
{{Samoan elections
Western Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabit ...
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Elections in Samoa
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results