A recommendation by the Election Commission of Inquiry for the constituencies of Lepa and Lotofaga to be merged hasn't gone down well with the incumbent M.P.

Lepa M.P. Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, speaking in his weekly press conference on Thursday, expressed concern at some of the recommendations in the final report of the COI into the 2021 General Election. 

The inquiry's report is currently being reviewed by the Standing Orders Parliamentary Committee with its recommendations yet to go before the House, but that didn't stop the veteran politician from criticising some of its findings. 

One of the recommendations in the final report that he is particularly worried about is the call to merge his Lepa constituency with Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa's Lotofaga. 

Tuilaepa said the final report has recommended removing three seats and adding three new constituencies to maintain the current number of seats in the Legislative Assembly. 

"The report proposes to add new seats in Upolu and remove three seats, two in Savai'i and one in Upolu. They are proposing to create two new seats for Faleata and one for Vaimauga," he said. "But because they want to maintain the number of seats, there will be constituencies that they will combine like my constituency and Fiame's constituency.

"We will have one constituency. At least that's what the recommendation says. It hasn't been passed in parliament and it is yet to be debated in parliament. There are options there if parliament passes the report."

Tuilaepa added that the report did not recommend scrapping the 10 per cent quota for women seats in the House. However, there has been a proposed change in the formula to calculate whether a woman candidate could qualify and its application. 

The former prime minister – whose administration initiated the 10 per cent quota formula – also raised concerns about the proposed changes to the formula saying there were a lot of "weaknesses" in the proposed changes. 

The report was compiled by the Special Commission of Inquiry which was appointed by the Government to collect views from voters across the country on electoral matters following the 2021 General Election. The report was tabled and endorsed by Cabinet in May this year and was tabled in Parliament a month later. It was then referred to the Standing Orders Parliamentary Committee for review before it is deliberated in parliament. 

Tuilaepa also said the proposed changes and recommendations in the report are "constitutional changes", therefore, the Government would need a 2/3 majority vote in the Legislative Assembly to pass the recommendations. 

"There are a lot of serious concerns about the report and its recommendations," Tuilaepa added. "This is what happens when they noted any opinion that was presented to them by all kinds of people and did not include any of their opinions.

According to the veteran politician, a lot of ordinary people in the country do not have a fair understanding of the issues in the nation. 

"Looking at the members of the Commission, they are big people with big qualifications so they should have thought deeply about the impact of their report and recommendations on the people of this country. 

"They can't rely or formulate their report based on the views they collected from the ordinary citizens of the country, they should've allowed for the current legislations to continue on for the next 30 years before they propose any changes."