Lautimuia Uelese Vaai looks poised to make his way back into parliament after a landslide win in the Vaimauga No.3 by-election preliminary count.

After the count of the 11 polling booths, Lautimuia had 1694 votes, Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party candidate Taioaliiseu Fiti Aimasau had 949, Human Rights Protection Party’s Tuumaalii Fomai Sapolu had 532, while independent candidate Puulatamai Filemoni Filemoni had 438 votes.

The results of the preliminary count show that Lautimuia is ahead by 745 votes, a massive gap. Indications are that the former Minister of Finance could be heading back into parliament as an independent.

FAST Party’s Taioaliiseu had caused the by-election after choosing to resign from HRPP and join the ruling party.

The final count will take place on Saturday when the votes will be counted again and the pre-polling votes will be added.

The Office of the Electoral Commission had stated on Wednesday that close to 100 people showed up for pre-polling. If that is the case, the final count may not change the results shown by the preliminary count.

The FAST Party had hoped to secure the Vaimauga No.3 seat to have a two-thirds majority in parliament. This majority would have allowed the government to make changes to laws, including the Constitution.