A tense two weeks in Samoa’s capital, Apia, has come to an end today with the country’s first female prime minister, Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, finally conceding her Samoa Uniting Party (SUP) had lost the election held on Aug. 29.
She had refused to acknowledge defeat or make any comment on the outcome since then.
That was despite the FAST Party of newly elected Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt (widely known as La'auli) having won more than ten times the seats of the SUP.
The final tally gave FAST 31 seats, more than twice as many as the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), which came in second with 14 seats. The SUP won just three. Samoa’s Fale Fono (Parliament) has 51 seats; independents won the last three seats.
But the troubles do not end there. HRPP and opposition leader, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, is still refusing to concede and calling for a full recount of election results.
He alleges bribery and voting irregularities skewed the results in some districts, and says his party will take those matters to court.
“We’re not going to ignore it,” he told PMN News. “We are looking forward to a very interesting outcome of the decisions by the court, and also what will happen with our general election results.”
He confirmed that HRPP would be seeking “a complete recount of all districts,” despite Samoa’s Head of State, Tuimaleali‘ifano Va’aletoa Sualauvi II, having officially confirmed the appointment of all members of parliament.
Legal challenges and appeals are common practices in Samoan politics. Tuilaepa led the country for 23 years before HRPP, which had governed Samoa for just over 40 years, was defeated by the FAST Party in 2021. That had led to the country having its first female prime minister in Mata’afa, who presided over an unstable coalition.
Then, it was Tuilaepa who hung onto the title, forcing Mata’afa to hold her swearing-in ceremony outside the Fale Fono, and later to having to threaten to call the police to remove him from office.
Schmidt has called upon both rival leaders to accept the result and remember they were there to serve the people of Samoa.
All three were once part of the same government, under HRPP.
Parliament must convene within 45 days after a general election in accordance with Samoa’s constitution.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese—who holds a Samoan chiefly title, Toeolesulusulu—acknowledged Schmidt as the country’s legitimate leader.
He said in a statement that he “looked forward to working together to build a more secure and prosperous Pacific region.”
His New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon expressed similar sentiments, posting on social media that he'd already spoken to Schmidt by phone.
