Fiame Naomi Mata’afa was sworn in as Samoa’s first woman Prime Minister in a makeshift tent ceremony on Monday. The island’s long-serving ruler, Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Neioti Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, refused to cede power and has locked the parliament doors for the new elected leaders. 

The already strained political situation in the islands is sure to take a plunge as the ad-hoc swearing-in ceremony would possibly be challenged in the courts following the contested April 9 election. 

Also read: Women’s success ends up being counter-productive in Chile vote

In the elections from last month, the prime minister of 22 years lost the vote. However, Malielegaoi has refused to step aside, prompting allegations of a constitutional coup. 

Mata’afa arrived for a parliament sitting early Monday with judges and formal robes expecting to be sworn in. Instead, she and the group were not allowed to enter the chambers that had been locked by the allied officials of the long-ruling prime minister. 

Eventually, she and her party leaders were sworn in under a tent in front of the locked Parliament. However, the ceremony was called illegal by the opposition. 

“Democracy must prevail, always. There can be no exceptions to this fundamental principle. Those who claim otherwise and act accordingly play with fire,” said the FAST party in an official statement. 

Also read: Labour politician Sadiq Khan to retain his position as London’s Mayor

Referring to the swearing-in as an “unlawful ceremony”, Malielegaoi said that he was shocked at the church ministers present there who did not tell the party over its constitutional validity. 

“I didn’t think we had people like this in Samoa, I thought the mafia was only found in Italy”, he told reporters. 

The newly-elected PM accused Malielegaoi of threatening Samoa’s young democracy and of carrying out a coup. 

In a conversation with Newshub, Mata’afa said that this is an illegal takeover of the government. “That’s what coups are. We have to fight this because we want to retain this country as a country that is democratically ruled, premised on the rule of law”. 

Samoa gained independence in 1962 and apart from a belief coalition period of 1986-1987 the country has always enjoyed huge parliamentary majorities. It is only now with Mata’afa’s FAST party that was formed in mid-2020 has claimed 26 of the legislature’s 51 seats in the last month’s vote. 

With the ongoing political crisis, neighbouring countries New Zealand and Australia have urged the country to adhere to its rule of law. 

“When you have the judiciary and the Supreme Court endorsing a particular outcome, then that would be where New Zealand would naturally flow,” said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden.