FAST Party leader La'aulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt. Photo / FAST Party
Samoa may welcome a new Prime Minister as early as the end of this week - a charismatic leader dubbed the rockstar of Samoan politics.
If elected, La’aulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt will be the eighth Prime Minister of Samoa since its independence in 1962.
Voting closed for the country’s general election late last week. Official results are starting to be released and are expected to be confirmed within days.
But La’auli’s party - Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (translated to “faith in the one true God” and widely known as the FAST Party) is claiming a landslide win already.
Samoa’s Fale Fono, or Parliament, has 51 seats and preliminary results currently show 31 have been won by FAST Party members.
The preliminary results suggest the end of caretaker Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa’s reign.
Fiamē - who was previously part of FAST - and five Cabinet ministers were removed earlier this year after a series of political controversies, resulting in a snap election.
Fiamē became Samoa’s first woman prime minister in 2021 after the FAST Party ousted the previous HRPP Party that had governed Samoa for more than 40 years.
Its longtime leader Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi was Samoa’s prime minister for 23 years and remains the opposition leader today.
At his party’s headquarters in Apia last night, Tuilaepa told members and supporters that they would be appealing results from some polling booths - a practice that is not unusual in Samoan politics.
La’auli’s gradual rise to the top has come about in a way he often refers to as “God’s timing”.
He also frequently uses the Samoan saying “O lalo e maua ai malō” when addressing crowds, meaning victory is gained through humility.
Politics is in his blood. The 59-year-old is son of the late Fuimaono Puletiuatoa Ipuniuesea and Polataivao Fosi Schmidt. His father, Polataivao Fosi Schmidt, was a politician who served in Samoa’s Parliament, under HRPP, from 1964 to 1999.
Before politics, Schmidt senior was a professional boxer in the 1950s, going by the name Fossie Schmidt. He spent time in Australia during his career and was dubbed the “Samoan Sensation” by newspapers.
La’auli entered Parliament in 2006 after being voted in as the HRPP MP for Gagaifomauga No.3. Over the years, he has held the roles of Speaker of the House, Deputy Speaker and Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Scientific Research.
In 2020, La’auli established the FAST Party after resigning from HRPP after disagreements. Despite a lot of scepticism, his party grew in popularity in the months leading up to the general elections held in April, 2021.
A travelling roadshow helped voters connect with La’auli. The party also harnessed social media - particularly Facebook Live - in a way never seen before in Samoan politics.
La’auli has since risen to celebrity status - with his appearances at public events resulting in huge crowd turnouts in Samoa.
He is also hugely popular among Samoans overseas - particularly in New Zealand, Australia and America.
La’auli and his wife were among thousands of mourners at the public funeral service for Green MP Faʻanānā Efeso Collins early last year.
La’auli told the Herald at the time that he had travelled here, on behalf of the Samoan people, to personally pass on condolences to the late MP’s aiga.
“I’m here to honour such a great man - one of the sons of Samoa. He has done a lot to showcase the Samoan people to New Zealanders in the political arena.”
Away from politics, La’auli is a businessman and lay preacher (a’oa’o fesoasoani). He is a father and is married to Heather Tupea Schmidt, the sister of former Manu Samoa legend Brian “The Chiropractor” Limā.
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.