Residents on Samoa's main island of Savai'i have voted for change in this year's general election.
The official results have been declared with the two main parties FAST and HRPP tied at 25 seats.
The final round of counting ended on Friday evening, and the Electoral Commissioner then presented the results to the Head of State, who declared the tally official.
Samoa's main political parties are tied Photo: Office of the Samoa Electoral Commission
Correspondent in Apia, Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia, said the two-way split shows a major shift in voting tendencies.
He said the ruling HRPP's stronghold on Savai'i has been diminished with FAST winning most of the seats there.
It looks likely the deciding vote will be independent MP Tuala Tevaga Iosefo Ponifasio.
"Fa'atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) won 15 seats on the big island of Savai'i. They won 10 seats on Upolu Island. So HRPP won most of their seats on Upolu and only won four seats on Savai'i."
The Electoral Commissioner Faimalomatua Mathew Lemisio thanked everyone who took part in the 2021 election.
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