Latest news with #FiameNaomiMata'afa
ABC News
4 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Samoa's first woman prime minister loses power
On the program today: The people of Samoa are heading for an early election, after Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa called for the dissolution of parliament. Drama in Fiji as the head of the country's anti-corruption commission, Barbara Malimali is suspended and her deputy sacked as police investigate her appointment. Tonga's King Tupou VI has called for improvements to the country's democratic system. A new parliamentary committee has been set up in Papua New Guinea to protect children who make up 43 per cent of the nation's population. Farmers in PNG are cashing in and spending big as prices for two of the country's main agricultural exports, coffee and cocoa, hit record highs. The minister for women and youth in Kiribati, Ruth Cross Kwansing, says the nation is facing a kava crisis with imports at record levels. Successful applicants of the Pacific Engagement Visa, have started to settle into their new lives in Australia.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Samoa dissolves parliament after leader unable to pass budget
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Samoa's parliament will dissolve on June 3 and the Pacific Island nation will hold an election at an unspecified date, Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa said on Wednesday. Fiame was unable to gain enough support to pass budget legislation in parliament on Monday and said in a statement that she had advised Samoa's head of state, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, that parliament should be dissolved. A dissolution notice was signed and gazetted on Wednesday. Fiame was elected in 2021, one of the Pacific's few female leaders, and faced a months-long court battle when the incumbent who had held power for two decades disputed the result. Unlike her predecessor, Fiame was sceptical of Chinese investment, and raised the international profile of the nation of 200,000 people by hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last year. Fiame was expelled from her political party, FAST, in January in a factional dispute.
ABC News
7 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Samoa to hold snap elections amidst fallout between Fiame and FAST party
Samoans are heading for an early election, after Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa called for the dissolution of parliament. The call came after the her government's budget was voted down by a combination of opposition and FAST party MPs. It's another twist in a long running saga that has seen Fiame survive two votes of no confidence earlier in the year. Many however are not surprised that the budget failed to pass through. "Given the way the parliament has operated over the past year, this is not surprising at all," said Samoan human rights scholar and journalist Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson. "We've never been in a stage before where we have three parties to this degree where it does impact the decisions of parliament."
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Early election called in Samoa
world politics 20 minutes ago Samoa will go to the polls almost a year earlier than scheduled, with Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa calling a snap election. RNZ Pacific reporter Grace Tinetali-Fiavaai spoke to Corin Dann.
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Samoa to head into early elections after PM Fiame dissolves parliament
Samoa will go into early elections after parliament failed to pass the national budget this morning. Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa announced that she will seek a dissolution of parliament and will await the Head of State to advise when the national election will be called. The ABC's Adel Fruean recounted what unfolded in parliament this morning and shared with Nesia Daily what this now means for the country. Also in the program, we spoke with Luna-Rossa Lomitusi-Ape, a young beekeeper from Samoa who is on a mission to build up and protect the population of bees in the country. Moses Cakau Willie joined us to acknowledge the passing of Motarilavoa Hilda Lini, a pioneering Ni-Vanuatu politician and chief who was the first woman elected to the nation's parliament in 1987, and eventually became Vanuatu's first female minister in 1991.
