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Samoa in Political Turmoil as First Elected Woman Prime Minister Shut Out of Parliament

HeadlineMay 26, 2021

Samoa is facing a political crisis after the long-standing prime minister refused to concede to the newly elected leader. Prime Minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, who is Samoa’s first woman leader, won a one-seat parliamentary majority, but her incumbent rival and Samoa’s ceremonial head of state are blocking her from taking power. On Monday, she was physically locked out of parliament and forced to hold a makeshift swearing-in ceremony in a tent. Mata’afa called the attempts to shut her out of office a “bloodless coup.”

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