General elections were held in

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

on 15 November 1957. New Blood In Samoan Assembly
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', December 1957, p23

Background

A Constitutional Convention was held in 1954, which recommended the merger of the 41-member Fono of Faipule and the 29-member Legislative Assembly into a new 48-member Legislative Assembly with 41 elected Samoan members, five elected European members and two ministers (the Minister of Finance and Minister of Justice),W. Samoa Adopts Self-Government Plan for Submission to NZ
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', January 1955, p23 with the number of Samoan members rising to 45 in future in line with population increases.Samoan self-government will be based on Samoan tradition
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', April 1956, p51 The 41 Samoan members would be elected from the same constituencies used for the Fono of Faipule, with voting restricted to matais. The five European members would be elected from a single nationwide constituency by universal suffrage for people with European status; of the 1,432 people with European status, around 175 were European, 125 Chinese and 1,100 mixed-race. The proposals also introduced

cabinet government A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

, with a

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

chosen by the Legislative Assembly, and proposed making the two Fautuas,

Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole (3 June 1905 – 5 April 1963) was a Western Samoan paramount chief. He held the royal title of Tupua Tamasese from 1929 to 1963, and O le Ao o le Malo (Head of State) jointly with Malietoa Tanumafili II from 1962 unti ...

and

Malietoa Tanumafili II Malietoa Tanumafili II (4 January 1913 – 11 May 2007), addressed Susuga Malietoa Tanumafili II, was the Malietoa, the title of one of Samoa's four paramount chiefs, and the head of state, or ''O le Ao o le Malo'', a position that he held for ...

, joint

heads of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and le ...

for life, which was approved by the vast majority of the 170 delegates and opposed by only around six. The decision provoked a furious response from Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II, one of the other four paramount chiefs alongside Tamasese and Malietoa, and on the final day of the convention, Mata'afa announced that he would withdraw from public life in protest at the decision.

Campaign

In 31 of the 41 Samoan seats, there was only one candidate, resulting in no vote taking place and the candidate being returned unopposed. The five European seats were contested by 11 candidates, including all five incumbent MLAs. Five of the European candidates (incumbent

Peter Plowman Peter Plowman (10 December 1902 – July 1983) was an Australia-born businessman and politician in Samoa, Western Samoa. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa, Legislative Assembly between 1954 and 1964, and as Member for ...

and four others) ran as the Progressive Citizens League, with the rest standing as independents.W. Samoa Elections: 11 Europeans for Five Seats
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', November 1957, p18

Results

In the Samoan seats, six of the incumbent MLCs were re-elected. In the European seats, the Progressive Citizens League won four of the five seats, with three of the five incumbents losing their seats. Around 1,100 of the 1,432 European voters voted.

European seats

Aftermath

Following the elections, Luafatasaga Kalapu was elected as the first

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

.New Assembly Sworn In
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', January 1958, p99 An Executive Council of six ministers was appointed. Despite his previous announcement that he would withdraw from public life, Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II was amongst its members. Formal cabinet government was introduced in 1959, with the new government sworn in on 1 October 1959, headed by Mata'afa as Western Samoa's first

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

.Lauofo Meti (2002) ''Samoa: The Making of the Constitution'', pp47–48

References

{{Samoan elections

Elections in Samoa