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May 26, 2021

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