The RHD Bill was always going to go through as it did on Friday. There was little doubt about that from the start.
The great RHD debate was always going to be decided by the winning numbers Government had in Parliament.
The Prime Minister was so set on having the new policy in place, members of the HRPP party were made to decide between loyalty to the party and the wisdom of their own counsel and conscience.
After the debate was finally grinded to a halt and the question put to the vote, the final outcome was as expected.
The loud ayes from the Government members gave the RHD Bill the muscle it needed to pass the critical second reading.
The Prime Minister wanted the records to show also that not one of the nays was heard in the House – a final twist of the knife.
But while the Government had the muscle power, it still lacked the weight of conviction needed to reassure public opinion after a week of debating the issue.
There were too many negatives about the road switch that Government rhetoric failed to respond to with some credibility.
The Government argument was heavy on the emotional rhetoric and bare on the hard facts.
Government had to stoop to branding the business community as selfish rich people, out to deny the toil of the poor, car less families in the villages to get by.
In the final analysis, the third and final reading of the RHD Bill will be passed and be signed into law.
The writings are already on the wall.
But the issue is unlikely to end there. The country has become so embroiled in the debate, the way it was muscled through, has left so many concerns unanswered or yet to be believed.
Reassurances that public safety will not be a concern remains a nagging worry. If all 17 thousand cars switch to the wrong side of the road all at once, how unlikely are the chances that no accident will happen?
Why include in the RHD Bill an immunity clause preventing Government from being sued for negligence if any accident should occur during the switch over?
Are RHD vehicles that much cheaper than LHD cars?
Claims that the used car market in Japan was always the target from the start has been added as a new twist in the debate.
Did Government deliberately misled the country by playing on the emotions of relatives in New Zealand and Australia sending cars to families in Samoa?
These are only a few of the lingering issues that have and will continue to stick out for a long time to come on the RHD switch.
The protest by the People Against Switching Sides and the Institute of Professional Engineers are sound and well structured.
The fears expressed were genuine enough and the protest they mounted sincerely addressed safety and economic concerns.
PASS and IPES steered very clear of any political motives.
Unfortunately, it must be admitted that the issue they raised indirectly posed a political threat to the Government’s hold on power.
The Prime Minister and the HRPP reacted to the integrity of the protest with a political mindset rather than a conscientious evaluation of the issues protested against.
They ended up losing three of their members who voted with their conscience rather than bow to blind loyalty demanded from members of the party.
The Petitions Committee also made a total hash out of the report they tabled, the political influence was glaringly obvious, in the attempt to discredit the protesters concerns.
As for the protesters themselves, has the fight gone off their RHD campaign after the political pounding left the integrity of their concerns with a bloody nose?
Perhaps they can take heart from some very real positives they have obviously influenced in Samoa’s democracy.
For the first time since the general elections and the collapse of any recognized opposition in the House, the aimless plodding of members were finally sparked to life to vigorously challenge the overwhelming power of the Government.
There was an air of unity in their opposition. For the first time also, the country was shown a glimpse of the true fighting heart they are capable of.
The sense of unity was capped off by the former opposition leader, Le Mamea Ropati, when he finally broke his self imposed loss of interest for the first time, since the fall of the Samoa United Development Party.
The appeal of his wisdom, for Government to extend the time period before the RHD switch over, warmed the heart.
The cry for a stronger opposition has remained unheeded for so long. Has the RHD issue finally sparked a movement towards a legitimate opposition a true democracy in Samoa is crying out for?
Is part of the strong protest against the RHD road switch a natural turn of events, inspired by the call for a stronger opposition?
The voters are finally waking up to a new found reality they never thought possible until now – the power to influence their representatives in Parliament.
The influence of the power of the voters is a new political force that was never tapped, until the RHD protest showed the way.
The trend should be seriously encouraged as the most effective form of political persuasion to keep our politicians and our democracy honest to the wishes of the people.
From that perspective the RHD protest may have lost the battle against switching sides of the road, but they have opened up a whole new political theatre for democracy in Samoa to move forward.
This is an important victory the RHD protest has secured for the future of our strapping democracy.
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