Samoans living abroad should not vote in local elections, as they outnumber Samoans living in the Country.
This is according to Lefaoali’i Dr Dion Enari, who recently completed his PhD that looks into the cultural and lingual experiences of the Samoan diaspora in places like Australia and New Zealand – with some astonishing findings.
He told ABC of his findings that the Samoan diaspora is influencing the politics in Samoa. He believes Samoa is also influencing politics internationally, so it goes two ways.
“Regarding the diaspora having the right to vote, no, I do not believe they should be allowed to vote from the diaspora.
“For obvious reasons, we outnumber those living on the island, so it should only be those living on the islands that should be able to, from a voting standpoint, vote who will dictate their everyday livelihoods as those living in the motherland.
“Yes, there is an influence. But when you talk about influences and the diaspora having conversations with their families in Samoa, who to vote for and sending remittances to different political parties, so yes.”
This has been on the agenda of the FAST party prior to taking office, which was looking into having Samoans overseas vote.
It is an issue highly criticized by the HRPP during their time in office, citing that it should never happen, as Samoans overseas outnumber the local voters, so their vote will pave the way for leaders in the Country, yet they do not live in Samoa.
The locals will feel the impact of those voted into office by Samoans overseas.
