As Office of Electoral Commission staff continue the final count of the votes before releasing the official 2021 General Election results, parties and candidates have begun to review how they fared in polling last week.

One thing for sure is that the pendulum has swung for Samoa’s political heavyweights Human Rights Protection Party and the Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi, who according to unofficial figures are tied on 25 seats each.

And at the announcement of the official results, and depending on where the Independent Gagaemauga No. 1 Member-elect Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio throws his support, the H.R.P.P. or the F.A.S.T. party could find themselves either in government or opposition for the next five-year term of the Parliament.

But not until after the quagmire over which constituency seats will be contested through election petitions are cleared, as some parties and candidates are already alleging foul play, and said they will look at their options after the O.E.C. released the official results from the election.

Amid the waiting for the official election results, the last party to be officially recognised as an opposition in Samoa’s 51-seat Legislative Assembly has conceded defeat in this year’s general election.

The Tautua Samoa Party endorsed 14 candidates for the 2021 General Election but was unable to keep up with the H.R.P.P. and the F.A.S.T. when polling opened and closed last Friday.

The party’s leader Afualo Dr Wood Salele told the Samoa Observer in an interview that he doesn’t blame the people.

“As a leader the overall integrity of the election I don’t blame the people,” said Afualo. 

“The parties and candidates will do anything at any cost to secure a vote and will think about court cases and other negotiations later. 

“I was envisioning something better for the future, but the biggest question for people is their conscience and how they can carry this within themselves, the guilt of manipulating voters…”  

Afualo and the Tautua Samoa Party might end up in court, if details of his interview with this newspaper where he alleged foul play, is any indication.

“I was quite disappointed by it [bribery and treating] as we are trying to have a clean [election] or at least minimise corruption, but it was the opposite,” he added. 

“What really angers me is that it happened to us before [in 2016 election] we had hoped for change for the better but its change for the worse.”

They say to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat shows the true strength of a person and the organisation they represent.

Afualo conceding defeat, while announcing that he will not blame voters for the party’s failure in last week’s general election, shows maturity and the real character of Tautua Samoa Party.

It is critically important in our representative democracy to maintain confidence in our systems of government, and the five-year cycle of the changing governments through an electoral process is one of those pillars.

Therefore, the announcement by the head of the Tautua Samoa Party highlighted the importance of grace in defeat, and showed confidence in Samoa’s electoral process despite the party coming out second best.

Of course there will be those who will choose to go to court to question the result through an election petition, well, good on you for believing in the rule of law to deliver you justice if you have evidence of foul play.

Nonetheless showing grace in defeat should not be a path only for the Tautua Samoa Party and its membership, as 189 candidates ran in the general election and only 51 will find a seat in the Parliament after the O.E.C. finalises the results.

For the other 138 aspiring politicians who came short of their attempt to represent our people in Samoa’s highest decision and law-making body – give yourselves a pat on the back for briefly walking a tumultuous path – and recharge your batteries to take on life’s other challenges including holding the next government to account until the 2026 General Election comes around.

Now that is you and me and everyone putting democracy into practice. The work of nation building should go on irrespective of your place within or outside the walls of the Parliament at Mulinu’u.

American writer and activist Jim Hightower once said democracy shouldn’t be realised only during elections but as a series of events over a lifetime.

“Democracy is not something that happens, you know, just at election time, and it’s not something that happens just with one event. 

“It’s an ongoing building process. But it also ought to be a part of our culture, a part of our lives.”