PART II
QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS
1.
Who may be candidates for election as Members (1) Subject
to the provisions of
the
Constitution and of this Act, any person who is registered as an elector
of any constituency, is the holder of a Certificate of Identify pursuant
to section 135A of this Act and is the holder of a matai title is
qualified to be a candidate and to be elected as a Member of parliament
for that constituency, and any person who is registered as a voter on
the individual voters roll is qualified to be a candidate and to be
elected as a Member of Parliament representing the individual voters, if
in either case, as required by Article 45 of the Constitution, he:
(a)
Is a citizen of Western Samoa, and
(b)
Is not disqualified under the provisions of the Constitution or
of any Act.
(2)
Any other person shall be
disqualified for being a candidate for, or being elected
as
a Member of Parliament. (3)
A person shall be disqualified for being a candidate for, or
being elected as a Member of Parliament representing a constituency if
he loses any qualification required to enable him to be registered as an
elector of that constituency or that person has not resided in Western
Samoa for a period equalling or exceeding 12 months ending with the day
on which the Nomination paper is lodged with the Chief Electoral
Officer. (4)
A person shall be disqualified for being a candidate for, or
being elected as a Member of Parliament representing the individual
voters if he loses any qualification required to enable him to be
registered as an individual voter or that person has not resided in
Western Samoa for a period equalling or exceeding 12 months ending with
the day on which the Nomination paper is lodged with the Chief Electoral
Officer. (5)
A person shall be disqualified for being a candidate or being
elected as a Member of Parliament if he:
(a)
Is an undischarged bankrupt; or
(b)
Has been convicted in Western Samoa or in American Samoa of an
offence punishable by death or by imprisonment for a term of 2 years or
upwards, within the immediately preceding 4 years after the offence or
has been convicted in Western Samoa of a corrupt practice; or
(c)
If of unsound mind and is subject to an order of medical custody
made under the Mental Health Ordinance 1961.
(6)
Nothing in subsection (2) or
subsection (3) of this section applies to:
(a)
A person who is appointed to a post under the Foreign Affairs Act
1976 and is outside Western Samoa during the course of that appointment.
(b)
A person who is the spouse of the person so described.
6.
Removal of name from roll without cause Any
person duly qualified as an elector or voter who has been registered on
any electoral or the individual voters roll but whose name has been
removed from any roll through no fault of his own shall not, by reason
only of not being registered as an elector or voter, be disqualified
from becoming a candidate and being elected; but in every such case he
shall forward to the Chief Electoral Officer, at the time when he sends
his nomination or consent to nomination, a statutory declaration to the
effect that he is not disqualified as an elector or voter, as the case
may be, under the provisions of this or any other Act, that he still
retains that qualification, and that his name has been removed from the
roll through no fault of his own.
7.
Effect of registration on wrong roll The
nomination of any person as a candidate for election, or his election as
a Member of Parliament, shall not be questioned on the ground that,
though he has chosen and is entitled to be registered as an elector of
any constituency, he was not in fact registered as an elector of that
constituency but was registered in error as an elector of some other
constituency.
8.
Public servants may become candidates or be elected (1) Any
public servant who desires to become a candidate for election as a
Member of Parliament shall, on application, be granted special leave of
absence for the purpose of his candidature.
(2) That special leave
shall commence on a day to be selected by him, being not later than
nomination day, and in the event of his nomination as a candidate, shall
continue until the 7th day after polling day, unless he
withdraws his nomination. (3) During the period
of that special leave he shall not be required or permitted to carry out
any of his official duties, nor shall be be entitled to receive in
respect of that period any salary or remuneration as a public servant
except to the extent to which he takes during that period any leave with
pay to which he is entitled. (4) Except as provided
in the foregoing provisions of this section his rights as a public
servant shall not be affected by his candidature.
9.
Members disqualified from being public servants If
any public servant is
elected
as a Member of Parliament he shall, forthwith upon the date on which he
is declared so elected, be deemed to have vacated his office as a public
servant.
VACANCIES
10.
How vacancies created The seat
of a Member of Parliament shall become vacant on
the
occurrence of any of the events specified in sub-clauses (a), (b) and
(c) of clause (2) of Article 46 of the Constitution, and in addition he
shall be disqualified from holding his seat:
(a)
If on 3 consecutive sitting days he fails, without permission of
the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, to attend in the Assembly; or
(b)
If he takes any oath or makes any declaration or acknowledgement
of allegiance or adherence to any foreign country; or
(c)
If he does or concurs in or adopts any act whereby he may become
a subject or citizen of any foreign country, or entitled to the rights,
privileges or immunities of a subject or citizen of any foreign country;
or
(d)
If he becomes a bankrupt; or
(e)
If he is convicted in Western Samoa or in American Samoa of a
crime punishable by death or by imprisonment for a term of 2 years or
upwards, or has been convicted in Western Samoa of a corrupt practice,
or is reported by the Supreme Court in its report on the trial of an
election petition to have been provide guilty of a corrupt practice; or
(f)
If he becomes a public servant; or
(g)
If on an election petition the Court declares his election void;
or
(h)
If he becomes of unsound mind and subject to an order of medical
custody made under the Mental Health Ordinance 1961; or
(i)
If being a Member representing a constituency he ceases to be
qualified to be a candidate to represent that constituency, or if being
a Member representing the individual voters he ceases to be qualified to
be a candidate to represent them; or
(j)
If while he is Member of Parliament he has sexual intercourse
with any person other than his spouse by valid marriage; or
(k)
If while he is a Member of Parliament he is guilty of conduct
unbecoming a Member of Parliament.
(l)
If he is proved to the satisfaction of a Committee of the
Legislative Assembly to have acted for commission or other reward as
agent on behalf of the owner or for any other person having an interest
in any land for the purpose of securing the purchase or acquisition of
that land by the Government.
11.
Proof of disqualification (1)
If and as soon as the Speaker has
reason to believe or
suspect that any Member of Parliament has become disqualified from
holding his seat on either of the grounds set out in paragraphs (j) and
(k) of section 10 of this Act he shall charge that Member with such
disqualification, and if the Legislative Assembly is then sitting shall
do so orally in the Assembly. (2)
If any Member of Parliament other than the Speaker charges
any other Member with having become disqualified from holding his seat
on either of the grounds set out in the said paragraphs (j) and (k)
other than in a sitting of the Legislative Assembly, he shall
immediately notify the Speaker of that charge.
(3) If the Speaker or any other Member of Parliament
charges any other Member with having become disqualified from holding
his seat on either of the grounds set out in the said paragraphs (j) and
(k), and that other Member
does not admit the charge in writing (by cable if he is not in Western
Samoa) within 7 days of it being brought to his attention, the Speaker
shall refer the charge to the Supreme Court by motion, and it shall be
determined by that Court pursuant to Article 47 of the Constitution.
(4)
The Speaker shall give notice of his motion to the Member
charged, and to the person with whom the Member charged is alleged to
have had sexual intercourse or any person with whom the Member charged
is alleged to have misconducted himself, unless in any case he is
excused by the Court on special grounds from so doing.
(5)
The person with whom the Member charged is alleged to have
had sexual intercourse, or any person with whom the Member charged is
alleged to have misconducted himself, as the case may be, shall be
entitled to be treated as a party to the motion and to be heard thereon.
(6)
On the Speaker referring a charge to the Supreme Court by
motion under this section, the Assembly may by resolution suspend the
Member charged until the motion has been disposed of.
(7) A Member
suspended under this section shall not during the period of his
suspension be entitled to sit in or otherwise take part in the
proceedings of the Assembly or any Committee thereof, to perform any of
the functions or powers of a Member or have any of the privileges or
immunities of a Member. (8) A member
suspended under this section shall not be entitled to any pay or
allowance for the period of his suspension unless the Supreme Court
holds that he is not disqualified. (9)
If the Speaker is charged by any other Member with having
become disqualified from holding his seat as a Member on either of the
grounds set out in the said paragraphs (j) and (k), the Deputy Speaker
shall perform the functions and duties of the Speaker under the
foregoing provisions of this section.
12.
Registrar of Court to notify cause of vacancy in certain cases
(1) The Registrar
of the Supreme Court shall, within 48 hours after adjudication as a
bankrupt of a member of Parliament, or after his conviction of an
offence punishable by death or by imprisonment for a term of 2 years or
upwards, or after he has been convicted of a corrupt practice, notify
the fact to the Speaker, or to the Head of State if there is no Speaker
or if the Speaker is absent from Western Samoa.
(2)
Every Registrar who fails to send any notice required by this
section commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to
a fine not exceeding $50 for every day during which he fails to send
such notice.
13.
Registrar of Births and Deaths to notify Speaker of death of
Member The Registrar of Births and Deaths by whom the death of
any Member of Parliament is registered shall, within 24 hours of making
the registration, notify the fact to the Speaker.
14.
Offence for disqualified member to sit Every Member of
Parliament who sits or votes therein being disqualified under the
provisions of this Act and knowing that he is so disqualified or after
his seat has become vacant under this Part of this Act shall be liable
to a fine not exceeding $60 for every day on which he so sits or votes.
15.
No person to be elected for more than one constituency (1)
Where a Member of Parliament for any constituency is also
elected as a Member of Parliament for any other constituency his
election for that other constituency shall be void.
(2)
Where at elections held on the same polling day any person is
elected as a Member of Parliament for 2 or more constituencies, his
election shall in every case be void.