2 Apr 2007

Samoa Party to sue government over election regulations

10:11 am on 2 April 2007

The Samoa Party says it will sue the government over the restrictions surrounding legal action in connection with elections.

The Chairman of the Party's legal committee, Le Tagaloa Pita says they are asking the Court to remove the requirement for election candidates to gain 50 percent of the winning candidate's votes before they may take legal action against the winner.

Le Tagaloa told the Samoa Observer that he thought the 50 percent requirement was the source of Government corruption.

He alleged that public funds were used illegally in the general election campaign to buy votes so that candidates of the ruling Human Rights Protection Party or Government ended up with so many votes they had totals that other candidates were unlikely to get close to.

The Samoa Party is arguing that the 50 percent requirement is unconstitutional and that it is also a destabilising factor.