The final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the 2021 General Election has been making the news since its tabling in the Legislative Assembly last month.

And depending on which side of Samoan politics you sit on, some would find the report’s findings and recommendations a “mixed bag” that probably questioned the status quo and proposed solutions that could be seen as entirely off-the-mark.

The constitutional crisis that followed the 2021 General Election, which came close to bringing Samoa’s democracy to its knees, made it equally more important for the CoI membership to study all the elements of the last general election which gave rise to such a crisis and to put forward recommendations for the Parliament’s consideration that would insulate and protect our democracy and ensure it didn’t reoccur. 

In that vain, on first impressions of our reading of the commission’s final report, we must commend the CoI members for getting out of their comfort zones in terms of their findings and recommendations. It was clear from our perusing of the 40-plus page report that they believe the multiple recommendations for changes to Samoa’s electoral processes and political culture would go a long way to enhance and fine-tune the country’s electoral systems for the better.

An article (Political parties should be transparent: Inquiry) in yesterday’s edition of the Samoa Observer was also based on one of the CoI's recommendations: for local political parties to become more transparent about their financial support and election expenditure.

The report of the CoI noted that substantial financial support for political parties came from individuals, businesses and the Samoan diaspora during the 2021 election and there are no provisions in the Election Act that compelled a candidate or political party to divulge the amount of funds donated or gifted by supporters.

“Without such provisions, there will be problems with corrupt and vote-buying by candidates and limited chances of winning for poorly resourced candidates,” the Commission said about the challenges. 

“There are also no provisions in the Act for political parties or candidates to divulge and publish the identity and amounts donated by private donors to support their election campaigns. 

“Without such provisions to control the sources of campaign finances and legal penalties for non-compliance, there will always be doubt over fair competition or conflict of interest when the alleged donors are awarded big contracts by a new Government.” 

Now this is one recommendation that should be taken on board by the Parliament. The membership of the CoI is correct in pointing out the vulnerabilities of a new incoming administration to its political party sponsors, and the heightened risks of State-funded contracts being awarded to firms owned or linked to political party sponsors.

We all know that political fundraising and its transparency in a democracy such as ours would be a contentious issue. But having only celebrated Samoa’s 60th Independence anniversary last year, it is the right path to take to ensure the continued evolution of Samoa’s democratic governance. That is if the country’s political leadership is to free itself of the influence of large political party donors, then there should be reforms to the country’s regulatory frameworks about our electoral system so there is more transparency around election funding with a stamp of approval coming first and foremost from the Legislative Assembly.

It is no secret that in the country’s last general election, the ruling the Fa'atuatua ile Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party announced that more than SAT$1 million in funds was collected from overseas supporters for its election campaign. The Human Rights Protection Party (H.R.P.P.) on the other hand turned to donors after it was defeated in the 2021 General Election, announcing a slew of fundraising activities to cover its legal costs and by-election preparations. The H.R.P.P. at the time announced having to fork out a minimum of SAT$400,000 in legal fees as a result of court proceedings.  

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) – an intergovernmental organisation that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions and processes around the world – in March 2019 released a policy brief on the transparency of political financing that warned of how “lack of information” on how funds circulate in and around elections can enable corruption and erode citizens’ trust in political institutions.

At the end of the day, Samoa needs an electoral process that enables its voters to get to exercise their rights freely, and their chosen elected members get to represent their people fully and to the best of their ability.