While the Supreme Court in Samoa is set to make vital rulings on the outcome of last month's election, the country is also preparing for a second election on 21 May.
It was ordered by the Head of State as means to break the deadlock, with the ruling HRPP and the Opposition FAST party tied on 26 parliamentary seats apiece.
The move has been condemned by the FAST party as unconstitutional, but until the court passes down its decisions, candidates are left with little option but to push ahead on the assumption that the Samoan people will go back to the polls in 11 days' time.
So will either of the two main parties change their strategy this time?
Dr Kerryn Baker, a Fellow in the Department of Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University, is a specialist in regional politics and she has told Pacific Beat that the ruling HRPP may well re-examine its decision to field multiple candidates last time.
“There was a lot of vote splitting among HRPP candidates, and also among FAST party candidates, but to a lesser extent,” Dr Baker said.
“But it's important to remember that parties aren't necessarily the most important factor in Samoan elections, politics is a lot more personal than that...and votes might not translate easily from one candidate to another.”
The Samoa Observer newspaper reports that 42 candidates who ran in the 09 April election have withdrawn their nominations for the 21 May poll, with 39 of them from the HRPP
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