Samoa’s Head of State has agreed to convene Parliament in order to swear in the members elected in April’s general election after weeks of political deadlock.
Leaders of the majority FAST party – which won 26 of 51 seats – met with Tuimaleali’ifano Va’aleto’a Sualauvi II today to request that Parliament be called on Friday.
FAST has advised the Head of State of their majority, 2 and the party’s intention to form a government once Parliament meets.
The caretaker Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) government that has been in power for four decades is attempting to delay Parliament 4 , claiming electoral legal challenges need to be settled first.
However, FAST leader Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said the Head of State had agreed to convene Parliament, although he has yet to confirm a date.
Fiame acknowledged Tuimaleali’ifano’s critical role in calling Parliament together, which would then allow elected representatives to get on with their roles to govern.
The HRPP is challenging a Supreme Court ruling issued on Monday 5 which has opened the way for FAST to form a government.
This challenge will be heard tomorrow.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report 6 and was authored by APR editor.