Samoa crisis deepens as head of state suspends parliament

Surprise order comes two days before parliament was set to swear in opposition leader Fiame Naomi Mata’afa as Samoa’s first female prime minister.

Samoa has plunged into fresh political turmoil after its head of state abruptly cancelled a parliamentary session expected to confirm the Pacific nation’s first change of government in almost 40 years. Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II’s order late on Saturday came two days before Samoa’s newly elected parliament was set to convene and swear in opposition FAST Party leader Fiame Naomi Mata’afa as the country’s first female prime minister. In a brief proclamation posted on Facebook, Sualauvi said he was suspending parliament “until such time as to be announced and for reasons that I will make known in due course”.