{"id":13758,"date":"2025-05-28T06:04:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T18:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=13758"},"modified":"2025-05-28T06:04:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T18:04:42","slug":"samoa-to-go-to-early-election-after-fiame-concedes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=13758","title":{"rendered":"Samoa to go to early election after Fiame concedes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Samoa’s Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa has announced she will seek a dissolution of parliament and an early election.<\/p>\n

Fiame, who has led a minority government since being ousted from her former FAST party in January, finally conceded defeat on the floor of parliament on Tuesday morning after her government’s 2025 Budget was voted down.<\/p>\n

MPs from both the opposition Human Rights Protection Party and Fiame’s former FAST party joined forces to defeat the budget with the final vote coming in 34 against, 16 in support and 2 abstentions.<\/p>\n

The decision comes amid a period of political turmoil that kicked off shortly after New Year’s.<\/p>\n

A split in the FAST Party in January saw Fiame remove FAST Party chairman La’auli Leuatea Schmidt and several FAST ministers from her Cabinet.<\/p>\n

In turn, he ejected her from FAST, leaving her isolated and leading a minority government.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, over a two-week period, Fiame and her minority government defeated two back-to-back leadership challenges.<\/p>\n

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Current geopolitcal climate \u2019tough\u2019 for Pacific – Samoa PM<\/h3>\n
Pacific Waves<\/span>24 May 2025<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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