The Woman Who Unseated Samoa's Prime Minister of 20 years

Thursday, 20 May 2021 07:28 AM

Samoa is set to get its first female prime minister, marking the end of unprecedented political drama in the small Pacific island nation.

On Monday, the Supreme Court finally validated Fiame Naomi Mata'afa's shock April election win, ending weeks of political stalemate and calling off a re-run.

She unseated the world's second-longest serving prime minister - Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi - who has been ruling the country since 1998.

Enter Fiame Naomi Mata'af, who quickly became a frontrunner for FAST after joining them in January.

Her political pedigree is unquestionable.

Politically active since the mid 1980s, the 64-year old had already been Polynesia's first female deputy prime minister and will be only the second woman in the region to head a government.

"Fiame is a strong figure, someone people have always looked up to," Sapeer Mayron, of the Samoan Observer, told the BBC.

"She's seen as very principled, and as bringing a dignity to politics that many people feel has been lost."

Kerryn Baker, Pacific affairs expert at the Australian National University, says that Fiame's appointment is "an important milestone for Samoa".

"She was already very much a role model for women in Samoa, but now she's broken through yet another glass ceiling."

Ms Mata'afa comes from royal lineage and is the daughter of the country's first prime minister.

But there's much more to her political success than just inherited legacy.

"In the traditional context she has equal or higher status to the state leadership, and for sure above other chiefly titles," Ms Mayron says. In Samoa, custom and respect for her status would dictate that Ms Mata'afa be addressed by her chiefly title of Fiame.

"Her status and family legacy may have opened doors for her into the many villages and communities she visited. But she was also able to be warm and personable with them, and encouraged people to open up about their concerns or questions about those bills or social issues more broadly."

Her election campaign brought a completely new dynamic to Samoan politics.

She started by inviting people into her home for discussions and debates and soon began travelling the country to engage directly with voters in a way that was very different from how politics had been done previously.

And it worked. Fiame Mata'afa is finally on track to make history.

Source: https://www.bbc.com

Question: We knew from the beginning that is hardly for women to become as head of the government, and as we could see in this case. This woman becomes the head of the govenment. What Fiame Mata'afa's leadership style would be?