Gender quotas in the Samoan election

The attempted use of the parliamentary gender quota amendment in the 2021 Samoan general election has the potential to severely damage gender equity efforts in the country, Mema Motusaga writes.

Samoa was the first independent Pacific Island country to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1992, a pivotal moment for progressing women’s participation in leadership and decision-making in the country.

Since then, Samoa has continued to lead the region in promoting gender equality by enacting legislation to give the CEDAW effect, including the introduction parliamentary gender quota system through the Constitutional Amendment Act 2013. Considered a temporary special measure (TSM), it requires 10 per cent of the seats in the legislative assembly to be reserved for women – female representation in parliament had never exceeded this figure prior to its introduction.

Despite significant international advocacy, Samoa remains the only independent Pacific Island country to have legislated such a quota but, sadly, the quota is now the subject of political controversy.

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Until the 2021 election, Samoa’s Human Rights Protection Party had been in power for almost 40 years. However, the results of the 2021 general election seemed to have brought about historic change, with the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party winning just over half of the seats in parliament.

Fiame Naomi Mata‘afa, the leader of FAST, was sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of the Independent State of Samoa and the second female prime minister in the Pacific region. However, her prime ministership is being contested, with HRPP attempting to use a number of avenues – including an unconstitutional invocation of the gender quota TSM – to retain a majority.

This attempted use of the TSM clause sought to prevent political change, making a mockery of the objective of the Constitutional Amendment Act 2013 and potentially acting as a serious setback for gender equity in the country.

The amendment was used successfully during in the 2016 general election. Only four women won seats at the ballot box so a fifth woman was appointed to reach the 10 per cent threshold. In the 2021 election — where women won the five seats needed to reach the threshold — the use of the TSM is perverse.

This misuse of the TSM is potentially a setback for an already controversial amendment. Before it was passed, there was outcry from men who opposed its introduction.

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The Samoan feagaiga concept – a covenant whereby a brother is expected to always serve and protect their sister – was misused as an argument against the quota. Constitutional Amendment Act 2013 consultations revealed that some men understood their role in the covenantal relationship as treating their sisters with high regard, especially in terms of the language used in their presence.

Because these men considered politics a male-dominated space in which discussions are often heated and the language used can be rude and disrespectful, they argued that the presence of women would change the tone of political debate; that male politicians would be restricted in the way they expressed themselves. In the men’s words, it would take away ‘the fun of the game’.

Other men referenced faamaepaepa – the role of the sister to sit pretty and wait to be served – as another reason to limit women’s participation in politics.

These arguments show a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the Samoan concept of equity and its practical application and demonstration over the years. In Samoan cultural ideology, both men and women have inherited equal rights to family resources, including rights to land and the right to become a matai (family chief). In this covenantal relationship, sisters traditionally confer the chiefly title to the brother as a show of respect, rather than because the brother has a gendered entitlement to the position.

With this cultural understanding, resistance to the introduction of the quota can be seen as an excuse on the part of those who fear the loss of their political privilege to limit the political voice of Samoan women. However, despite the efforts of these men, the amendment was eventually drafted and passed in parliament.

However, this misuse of the gender quota will give new fire to those that want to see the amendment abolished, as it allows them to make the argument that it is not being used for gender equity, but rather cynical political power plays. The use of the TSM in this way devalues the hard work and progress of those at the Electoral Commission, who’ve run advocacy campaigns and voter education about the importance of women’s participation in leadership. Such action is an insult to the prominent women leaders, past and present, who have fought to get Samoa to its current status in terms of sustainable development and gender equality.

There’s a Samoan saying – seu le manu ae tagai i le galu, leaga o si o ta lima lava e paia ai si o ta mata – meaning one must watch their actions carefully so they ‘don’t hurt our own eyes with our own fingers’. Samoa’s leaders must take note.

In striving for gender equity, especially through increasing the number of women leaders in politics, leaders must carefully consider how they progress the cause, so as not to sabotage the efforts that came before.

This article is based upon a paper published by ANU Department of Pacific Affairs (DPA) as part of its ‘In brief’ series. The original paper can be found here.

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