Samoa s FAST party seeks clarification of court ruling pina.com.fj - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pina.com.fj Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
La auli Leuatea Polataivao
Photo: RNZ Pacific/Tipi Autagavaia
The way the controversial remarks on EFKS TV were run appeared be a threat of sexual violence to women by the chair, La auli Leuatea Polataivao.
However he says he was speaking in metaphors and did not mean literal harm to women.
La auli says his comments were aimed at the many anonymous commenters on the Facebook page Teine Samoa, who regularly insult and defame party members.
But he says his words were misinterpreted. What I meant to say is that everyone who defames us - the party, myself, our leader Fiame - all this time, and we re going to take them to court. That s what it means.
Samoa s FAST party is seeking clarification of an Appeal Court decision about extra parliamentary seats for women.
Samoa s Fiame Naomi Mata afa and her FAST party seek clarification from the courts over the matter of extra parliamentary seats for women.
Photo: Ame Tanielu
An Appeal Court decision last week upheld the Supreme Court s earlier voiding of an extra women s seat in the aftermath of April s national election.
The ruling meant the FAST party maintained its majority of 26 seats in the 51-seat Parliament.
But the court also ruled that six rather than five women MPs was the correct number under Samoa s system providing for 10 percent of parliamentary seats to be reserved for women.
Samoa found itself in a constitutional crisis this week when the caretaker HRPP government locked the doors to parliament in an attempt to stop prime minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mata'afa being sworn in to office following her FAST party's one-seat election win. The island nation now finds itself in the position of having two governments claiming a mandate to rule, and the UN is urging the party leaders to find a solution through discussion. Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson is the editor of Pacific Environment Weekly and has been covering events surrounding Samoa's election.
FAST party leader Fiame Naomi Mata afa (file photo).
Photo: AFP/ FAST
Fiame Naomi Mata afa, the leader of the FAST party, told RNZ her party won the majority of seats in the 9 April election and could form a government, which she believed should happen early next week, despite opposition from the caretaker government.
Her party is now waiting on the Head of State to decide his next step. The due process is to confirm our numbers with the Clerk of the house, and through him ask the Head of State to reconvene parliament, so we ve done that, Fiame said. We ve given him the documentation that s required, documenting our numbers and that we have the majority. We also went to personally deliver to the Head of State a copy of that letter. Parliament needs to be called at the latest next Monday.