Fiame Naomi Mata’afa: The lady who received Samoa’s election however nonetheless cannot run her nation

Fiame Naomi Mata'afa: The woman who won Samoa's election but still can't run her country

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When Fiame Naomi Mata’afa turned up to the Pacific island nation’s Parliament on Monday to be sworn in, she found the building locked. The 64-year-old went ahead with the oath-taking ceremony anyway — inside a tent on Parliament grounds.

“(Though) it was disappointing, we weren’t surprised,” she said from her office in the capital Apia. “But we were very resolved that a convening and swearing-in ceremony needed to take place.” Monday was the final day a new parliament could be sworn in following the April 9 election under Samoa’s constitution.

Longtime politician Mata’afa — who hails from a storied political dynasty — argues her party won the election. But her opponent, Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi, Samoa’s Prime Minister of more than 22 years, sees it differently — and is refusing to relinquish power.

The pair offer different futures for Samoa. Malielegaoi — who once suggested Mata’afa was “the Devil” — has been criticized for his party’s close relationship to China and for…

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