General elections were held in Western Samoa on 24 February 1979. Voting was restricted to matai and citizens of European origin ("individual voters"), with the Matai electing 45 MPs and Europeans two.[1] Although all candidates ran as independents, an opposition bloc had emerged following the 1976 election of Tupuola Efi as Prime Minister in Parliament.
^Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p782 ISBN0-19-924959-8