Samoan politician La'aulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt, 59, is set to be sworn in as the next Samoan PM. Photo / FAST Party
Samoan politician La'aulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt, 59, is set to be sworn in as the next Samoan PM. Photo / FAST Party
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was among the first world leaders to send well wishes to Samoa’s new prime minister-elect La’aulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt after a landslide win in the country’s general elections.
The congratulatory messages have been overshadowed by chaos on the ground in Samoa, where opposition leader, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi,is refusing to concede and calling for a full recount of election results.
Samoa’s caretaker PM Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, now the leader of the newly-established SUP Party, has also failed to concede and has not spoken publicly since the elections almost two weeks ago.
Taking to social media over the weekend, Luxon expressed his support for the new PM-elect, known widely as La’auli, and revealed the pair had already spoken by phone.
PM Christopher Luxon and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters pictured in Samoa last year. Photo / Pool
“It was great to talk...about our countries’ enduring friendship,” Luxon wrote on X.
“I look forward to working together to build a more secure and prosperous Pacific region.”
Australian PM Anthony Albanese - who holds a Samoan chiefly title, Toeolesulusulu - wrote a similar message online about working towards the betterment of the Pacific region.
“I look forward to working together for our region’s future.”
Despite the election results giving 31 seats out of Samoa’s 51-seat Fale Fono (Parliament) to La’auli’s FAST Party, neither Tuilaepa nor Fiame have acknowledged the new Samoan government.
HRPP gained 14 seats, SUP Party earned three and three others will be independent seats.
‘A complete recount’
Tuilaepa has instead come out with allegations of bribery and voting irregularities in some districts and says his party will take those matters to court.
The HRPP Leader Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi says election laws have been violated. Photo / RNZ
“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.”
Asked if those court actions would be against only some districts, Tuilaepa responded: “A complete recount of all districts.”
In previous years similar legal challenges have delayed the swearing-in ceremony. The current ceremony is scheduled for September 16.
Legal challenges and candidates appealing results from an election are not unusual practices in Samoan politics.
At 81 years old, Tuilaepa is a veteran in Samoan politics and in the Pacific region. He led the country for 23 years before HRPP, which had governed Samoa for just over 40 years, was ousted by the FAST Party in 2021.
That win ultimately led to Samoa’s first woman Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa.
When she won the election in 2021, she was locked out of Parliament and had to have her swearing-in ceremony outside. Later she had to threaten to call the police to remove Tuilaepa from the office he had lost in the election.
‘Samoa has spoken’
FAST Party leader La'aulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt. Photo / FAST Party
Meanwhile, Samoa PM-elect La’auli continues to call for peace and harmony among all Samoans. Daily livestreams of his party’s prayer services are shared online.
In a thanksgiving service held after the elections, La’auli told the crowd: “Samoa has spoken.”
He called on both former prime ministers, Fiame and Tuilaepa, to put aside their differences to show a united front for all of Samoa. He stressed the fact that they were there to serve the people of Samoa.
All three have served together, under HRPP, in previous years.
La’auli’s rise to the top has come gradually over the last few years, since he first established the FAST Party in 2020 after resigning from HRPP.
He and his party have become hugely popular with both locals and Samoans living overseas - particularly in New Zealand, Australia and the US - many of whom registered and returned to the motherland to vote in the elections.
Samoa’s Head of State, Tuimaleali’ifano Va’aletoa Sualauvi II, has officially confirmed the appointment of all members of parliament.
Parliament must convene within 45 days after a general election in accordance with Samoa’s constitution.
Vaimoana Mase is the Pasifika editor for the Herald’s Talanoa section, sharing stories from the Pacific community. She won junior reporter of the year at the then Qantas Media Awards in 2010 and won the best opinion writing award at the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.
