1957 Western Samoan general election

General elections were held in Western Samoa on 15 November 1957. New Blood In Samoan Assembly Pacific Islands Monthly, December 1957, p23 Background A Constitutional Convention was held in 1954, which recommended the merger of the 41-member Fono of Faipule and the 29-member Legislative Assembly into a new 48-member Legislative Assembly with 41 elected Samoan members, five elected European members and two ministers (the Minister of Finance and Minister of Justice),W. Samoa Adopts Self-Government Plan for Submission to NZ Pacific Islands Monthly, January 1955, p23 with the number of Samoan members rising to 45 in future in line with population increases.Samoan self-government will be based on Samoan tradition Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1956, p51 The 41 Samoan members would be elected from the same constituencies used for the Fono of Faipule, with voting restricted to matais. The five European members would be elected from a single nationwide constituency by universal suffrage for people with European status; of the 1,432 people with European status, around 175 were European, 125 Chinese and 1,100 mixed-race. The proposals also introduced cabinet government, with a Premier chosen by the Legislative Assembly, and proposed making the two Fautuas, Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole and Malietoa Tanumafili II, joint heads of state for life, which was approved by the vast majority of the 170 delegates and opposed by only around six. The decision provoked a furious response from Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II, one of the other four paramount chiefs alongside Tamasese and Malietoa, and on the final day of the convention, Mata'afa announced that he would withdraw from public life in protest at the decision. Campaign In 31 of the 41 Samoan seats, there was only one candidate, resulting in no vote taking place and the candidate being returned unopposed. The five European seats were contested by 11 candidates, including all five incumbent MLAs. Five of the European candidates (incumbent Peter Plowman and four others) ran as the Progressive Citizens League, with the rest standing as independents.W. Samoa Elections: 11 Europeans for Five Seats Pacific Islands Monthly, November 1957, p18 Results In the Samoan seats, six of the incumbent MLCs were re-elected. In the European seats, the Progressive Citizens League won four of the five seats, with three of the five incumbents losing their seats. Around 1,100 of the 1,432 European voters voted. European seats Notes Eugene Paul Progressive Citizens League 811 Elected #dbffdb Frank Nelson Progressive Citizens League 614 Elected #dbffdb Fred Betham Independent 592 Re-elected #dbffdb Peter Plowman Progressive Citizens League 563 Re-elected #dbffdb Hans Joachim Keil II Progressive Citizens League 562 Elected #dbffdb Harry Moors Independent 561 Unseated Kurt Meyer Progressive Citizens League 518 Arno Max Gurau Independent 278 Unseated Percy Morgan Independent 235 Unseated July Ah Mu Independent 171 Z.F. Betham Independent 170 1100 1432 Pacific Islands MonthlyPacific Islands Monthly Aftermath Following the elections, Luafatasaga Kalapu was elected as the first Speaker.New Assembly Sworn In Pacific Islands Monthly, January 1958, p99 An Executive Council of six ministers was appointed. Despite his previous announcement that he would withdraw from public life, Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II was amongst its members. PositionMinisterMinister of AgricultureFiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u IIMinister of Economic DevelopmentEugene PaulMinister of EducationTuatagaloa Leutele Te'oMinister of LandsTualaulelei MauriMinister for the Post Office and RadioFaalavaau GaluMinister for Public Works and Road TransportFrank Nelson Formal cabinet government was introduced in 1959, with the new government sworn in on 1 October 1959, headed by Mata'afa as Western Samoa's first Prime Minister.Lauofo Meti (2002) Samoa: The Making of the Constitution, pp47–48 PositionMemberMinister of AgricultureTualaulelei MauriMinister of EducationTuatagaloa Leutele Te'oMinister of FinanceEugene PaulMinister of HealthLuamanuvae EtiMinister of JusticeAnapu SolofaMinister of LandsTo'omata Lilomaiava TuaMinister for the Post Office and RadioFaalavaau GaluMinister for Public Works and Road TransportFrank Nelson See also List of members of the Legislative Assembly of Western Samoa (1957–1961) References Western Samoa Category:Elections in Samoa General Western Samoa