ZCZC
BFF-05
SAMOA-POLITICS-VOTE
Fresh political turmoil in Samoa as parliament cancelled
APIA, Samoa, May 23, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Samoa faced fresh political turmoil Sunday with the
parliamentary session expected to confirm the Pacific nation’s first change of government in
almost 40 years suddenly cancelled without immediate explanation.
The order from head of state Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi came a day after he had cleared
the way for parliament to sit on Monday where opposition FAST Party leader Fiame Naomi Mata’afa
had the numbers to be installed as Samoa’s first female prime minister.
With religious Samoa largely closed on Sundays, Sualauvi announced just before midnight
Saturday that he was suspending parliament “for reasons that I will make known in due course”.
Samoa’s political future has been unclear since the April 9 general election which ended with
FAST and the incumbent Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) locked at 25 seats each with one
independent in the 51-seat parliament.
When the independent sided with FAST, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who has held
the top job for 22 years, boosted his numbers by adding an extra MP to his party under
provisions setting out the minimum quota of women in parliament.
He then persuaded Sualauvi to call a second election for May 21.
The courts overturned both measures and when a panel of appeal judges on Friday declined HRPP’s
bid for a stay on the rulings, Sualauvi called for parliament to sit on Monday, only to then
cancel the order the following day.
Malielegaoi has insisted the HRPP still has the numbers to lead the nation of 220,000 while
Mata’afa has said she will challenge the latest decision in court and “will stand by the rule
of law”.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0848 hrs