Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi deputy Leader and Chairman, Laauli Polataivao Leuatea Schmidt remains on top, as shown by preliminary results on Friday. 

Pre-polling results released daily since kicking off on Monday showed that Gagaifomauga No.3 voters remain in favour of their former elected Member of Parliament. 

Results on the last day of pre-polling showed Laauli leading with 62 votes and Faaulusau at 28. 

By Friday evening, Laauli claimed victory over the H.R.P.P. candidate with a gap of up to 500 votes. 

Preliminary results show that Laauli's votes went above 700 while Faaulusau gathered less than 300 votes. 

At Laauli's residence in Fagaee, families and supporters gathered in the evening for devotion, after preliminary polling results showed his landslide win. 

Faaulusau entered Parliament through the Constitutional Amendment of a 10 per cent requirement of women in Parliament.

Laauli's lead comes after a tough journey during his most recent term in Parliament. 

In a previous interview with the Samoa Observer, La’auli said, the turbulence experienced was never part of his plans at the beginning of the parliamentary term. 

“I did not plan for this at the beginning of this parliamentary term,” he told the Samoa Observer at the time. 

“No one planned for this to happen.

“I didn’t think I was going to form a political party before the end of this parliamentary term. Initially, I did not plan to leave the H.R.P.P. party. 

“My parents did not plan for this. They never thought about this.”

However, the former Speaker of the House and Cabinet Minister remains firm that everything that happened, is all part of God’s plans.  

“But what happened, happened. Our plans are not always God’s plans, but His plans are always better than ours.”

While he admits that his journey over the past months has been the toughest time in his political career, he said he is happy with where he is, with the strong support of his colleagues and families. 

Relying on his faith, La'auli is optimistic about the future.

The future hangs in the balance right now as the nation awaits official results.