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Samoa's first female PM locked out of parliament by losing opponent

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Samoa's first female PM locked out of parliament by losing opponent - BBC News

Samoa's first female prime minister has been sworn into office in a tent after she was locked out of parliament by her opponent, who has refused to step down.

Fiame Naomi Mata'afa took the oath of office in a marquee in the parliament's gardens, leaving uncertainty over who controls the Pacific island nation.

Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who has been prime minister for 22 years, has ignored a court order to step down.

Ms Mata'afa, 64, arrived at parliament on Monday expecting to be sworn in.

But the former deputy prime minister, who arrived alongside the chief justice, found herself barred from the building, which had been locked by allies of Mr Malielegaoi in advance of her arrival.

They also locked out the chief justice.

Instead, Ms Mata'afa and members of her Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (Fast) party gathered in a marquee in parliament's gardens, in the capital Apia, with supporters looking on, and were sworn in one by one.


In a statement, the Fast party said: "Democracy must prevail, always. There can be no exceptions from this fundamental principle. Those who claim otherwise and act accordingly play with fire."

The ad-hoc ceremony was rejected by rivals as unofficial. Mr Malielegaoi called the improvised swearing-in ceremony "illegal and unlawful".

The controversy comes a month after the closest-run general election in Samoa's history, which was followed by bitter disputes and legal challenges.

Mr Malielegaoi's Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) was ousted from power after four decades by Ms Mata'afa's insurgent Fast party. Both parties won 25 seats, but a single independent MP broke the tie in favour of the Fast.

That led to legal manoeuvring by the HRPP, which claimed its opponents had not correctly met the quota of female MPs. Samoa's election commission revoked the results of the April vote and called a fresh election for 21 May.

But five days ahead of the re-run, the supreme court ruled against the HRPP, re-endorsing the results of the election and ordering the swearing in of Ms Mata'afa to go ahead.

After 22 years in charge, Mr Malielegaoi is the world's second longest-serving prime minister.

After serving as Polynesia's first female deputy prime minister, Ms Mata'afa success in the general election makes her only the second woman in the region to head a government.

She is the daughter of the country's first prime minister, and has been politically active since the mid-1980s.

Maybe after they're done with Maricopa County's recount, Cyber Ninjas can head out to Samoa to help with theirs.

Sometimes I think democracy is finished. If nobody can trust the results anymore, what's the point?
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
Sometimes I think democracy is finished. If nobody can trust the results anymore, what's the point?
It certainly is discouraging. Unfortunately, these claims are taken seriously by some, even as the presentation from the loser has thus far been of the form "Well, if I can't win through the legitimate channels, then I am going to try this." - which should be a red flag for anybody. In my opinion, the person taking that tack is a baby. Gore, Trump, this Malielegaoi fellow. Big babies and bad company.
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
It certainly is discouraging. Unfortunately, these claims are taken seriously by some, even as the presentation from the loser has thus far been of the form "Well, if I can't win through the legitimate channels, then I am going to try this." - which should be a red flag for anybody. In my opinion, the person taking that tack is a baby. Gore, Trump, this Malielegaoi fellow. Big babies and bad company.

It is kind of funny how they just lock the door to the parliament building. As if that would make a difference.

"Keep a knockin' but you can't come in"

 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
Sometimes I think democracy is finished. If nobody can trust the results anymore, what's the point?

I think it can serve as a more positive reminder, though.
There are many democratic nations on earth where a smooth transition of power is absolutely NOT the norm, and certainly there are a range of nations in the Pacific where that is true. Fiji, the Solomon's, Papua New Guinea...

This is absolutely nothing new. But you have to keep in mind neighbouring nations like New Zealand, which is one of the most stable democracies on earth, and a country that has a history of bilateral fostering of smooth transitions.

Perhaps this serves to remind us how precious and important democratic process and principles are, and to stop taking them for granted in some countries, and start seeing them as things to explicitly celebrate and nurture.
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
Gore accepted the outcome - Trump does not.

So how do you put them into the same list when they are opposites.
The impetus... what starts one out on the path to seeking an "alternate course" to the legitimate, established system is what I was referring to. Gore fits squarely in that box. I would even go so far as to say that Gore "paved the way" for Trump to start raising the same alarms. There you have it. Probably shouldn't have asked.
 

Kooky

Freedom from Sanity
I think we frequently underestimate what a tremendous feat representative democracy actually is.

Think about how much trust we had to build up for a head honcho to just say after an election "okay, I'm beat fair and square", step down, and let a new guy or gal be in charge. Because, let's face it, nobody actually forces these people to step down, and nobody forces their supporters to accept defeat, or to go down peacefully at all.

We think nothing of it - to us, it seems to happen smoothly like clockwork, but there is a significant amount of trust in the institutions and the general fairness of the process that is required for everyone to feel safe enough to allow another faction at the reigns of power and not feel like it's going to be the end of the world.
 
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