I'd say "let the samoan democracy evolve" and things will be sorted out as we go along. Furthermore,
that PGA consultant was right, "the Pacific should not be obligated to the Westminister system". Samoa can revise its own constitution to see what is best for us. Samoa Government for a start should remove its signature from the CEDAW (committee for the elimination of all kinds of discrimination against women) because it was a mistake to have signed in the first place. Let the women of Samoa and the government of Samoa create a model that is culturally and democratically sensitive for our women.

I say we should ditch that archaic voting system called first-past-the-post - ie: whichever candidate secures the most votes in an electorate wins the electorate. We should have a system of proportional representation in parliament, whereby the national percentage of the raw votes a party gets translates to their number of seats in the House. For example 5% of the national vote = 5% of the seats in the house. In that way, we won't have HRPP-dominated parliaments forever and ever amen. I'm sick of the HRPP. What is happening in Samoa now, is that candidates are jumping on the HRPP banner just so they can be on the "winning side" in the election.

The result is an elected dictatorship. NZ ditched this system in 1993 and went to the MMP system of voting whereby small parties get elected to parliament and forces the bigger parties to negotiate coalition govts with the smaller parties to stay in power. It is particularly relevant because NZ is a one-house system like Samoa. There is no upper house like in Australia (where the smaller parties are able to hold the bigger parties accountable in the Senate).

The nature of Westminster parliamentary democracy is that parliament's will is final (until election time). The only safeguard in Samoa is the Constitution, which guards fundamental rights. We need an extra safeguard in the House, by making it easier for minority voices (smaller parties) to hold the bigger parties more accountable. The current kerfuffle over the RHD law is a perfect example of where smaller parties could 'gang-up' on the HRPP and force the numbers when passing the legislation. Right now, the HRPP controls two-thirds of the house (legitimately because they won the FIRST-PAST-THE-POST elections in 2006).