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Sapeer Mayron in Apia and Mandy Te20:00, May 25 2021
STUFF
Samoa has been in constitutional crisis and mired in controversy since its April 9 election.
Samoa’s ousted prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, accused the Supreme Court of aligning itself with the Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party in an angry tirade delivered amid a political and constitutional deadlock in the island nation. But FAST’s leader Fiame Naomi Mata afa, who was sworn in as prime minister in an ad hoc ceremony on Monday, said Tuilaepa needed to recognise his position was “by virtue of the law” and that he needed to recognise the “provisions of this position”.
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.