Name? Fiame Naomi Mata’afa
Westphalian identity? Samoan
Age? 64
Why is she in the news? After a three month constitutional crisis, Ms. Fiame finally took office yesterday as Samoa’s first female prime minister. Her victory meant the disputed defeat of Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi who has been the country’s leader for the last 22 years.
Why do we care? Quite honestly, because Samoa’s constitutional crisis has been interesting to watch. Tuilaepa claimed he was ‘appointed by God’ to lead Samoa, he locked Fiame and her party out of the Parliament, the head of state fled to a remote village, and both sides accused the other of staging a coup.
Why should you care? Because until today, you probably didn’t know that Samoa and American Samoa are two different places; one being an independent country and the other an American colony…ahem sorry ‘overseas territory.’ So you should care 6/10 about the small island developing state that now has a stronger constitution and political system than many of its larger counterparts…
Who else cares? Once again, Chinese President Xi Jinping as Fiame’s appointment could mean a reset in Samoa’s relationship with China. While campaigning, Fiame pledged to stop a $100 million port development backed by Beijing as she called the project excessive for a country already heavily indebted to China. With many of Xi’s projects already on pause, including the massive BRI, the Chinese leader will likely push harder for the Samoan port project with Fiame.
Any further comments? According to the Samoan Constitution, women must make up at least 10% of parliamentary seats, and after the April election, they only made up 9.8%. This led to an illegal adding of a seat to the Parliament by Tuilaepa’s party which resulted in a ‘win’ for him. The move has since been declared invalid and Fiame declared victorious but it makes one wonder the effectiveness of gender quotas…
