It’s official. Lautimuia Uelese Vaai claimed a landslide victory winning the Vaimauga No.3 by-election. He was 806 votes ahead of his closest opponent.

After the official count on Saturday, Lautimuia had 1802 votes, Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party candidate Taioliiseu Fiti Aimasau had 996, Human Rights Protection Party’s Tuumaalii Fomai Sapolu had 573 while independent candidate Puulatamai Filemoni Filemoni had 474 votes.

The results come after a stringent counting and scrutinising process that lasted more than eight hours.

The former Minister of Finance who ran as an independent is definitely heading back into parliament as an independent.

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

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.

The polling for the by-election took place on Friday with pre-polling held on Wednesday.