Samoa set to appoint first female prime minister
Fiame Naomi Mataafa is poised to become Samoa's first female prime minister, after the Pacific nation's top court on Monday helped break a month-long political impasse that followed a tightly contested April election.
Samoa's Supreme Court on Monday afternoon overruled an attempt by the head of state Tuimaleali'ifano Va'aletoa Sualauvi II to void the election results, local media reported.
Earlier in the day, the court rejected the post-election creation of an additional parliamentary seat by the electoral commission that gave the incumbent government a majority.
The court decisions clear the path for Fiame's FAST party to form a government, ending the rule of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi who has fought to hold onto power after governing for over two decades.
It was not immediately clear if there are legislative or legal avenues open to Tuilaepa to challenge Fiame, who now has a slim majority of support in the 51-member parliament.
Tuilaepa's government did not immediately respond to questions on Monday.
Dressed in red, Fiame's supporters celebrated the legal decisions by singing outside the court in the capital Apia on Monday.
Fiame is a former deputy prime minister who split with the government in 2020, after opposing changes to Samoa's constitution and judicial system.
Tuilaepa has also faced criticism in recent years over his handling of a measles crisis in 2019 which killed 83, mainly young people.
Samoa has a strong history of migration. Around one-sixth of the island nation's 200,000 residents are of mixed Samoan and Chinese descent, according to census data.
Samoa's Supreme Court on Monday afternoon overruled an attempt by the head of state Tuimaleali'ifano Va'aletoa Sualauvi II to void the election results, local media reported.
Earlier in the day, the court rejected the post-election creation of an additional parliamentary seat by the electoral commission that gave the incumbent government a majority.
The court decisions clear the path for Fiame's FAST party to form a government, ending the rule of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi who has fought to hold onto power after governing for over two decades.
It was not immediately clear if there are legislative or legal avenues open to Tuilaepa to challenge Fiame, who now has a slim majority of support in the 51-member parliament.
Tuilaepa's government did not immediately respond to questions on Monday.
Dressed in red, Fiame's supporters celebrated the legal decisions by singing outside the court in the capital Apia on Monday.
Fiame is a former deputy prime minister who split with the government in 2020, after opposing changes to Samoa's constitution and judicial system.
Tuilaepa has also faced criticism in recent years over his handling of a measles crisis in 2019 which killed 83, mainly young people.
Samoa has a strong history of migration. Around one-sixth of the island nation's 200,000 residents are of mixed Samoan and Chinese descent, according to census data.
RELATED ARTICLES
