Fiame Naomi Mata’afa needed no coaxing as to who should be credited for preventing her island nation from descending into chaos the moment Samoa’s Court of Appeal ruled that her Fa’atuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party had won Samoa’s election on 23 July.
“Can I offer my deepest gratitude to you, the people of Samoa, and in particular acknowledge the dignity with which you have waited with patience and forbearance, peacefully and respectfully for the court process to be concluded,” she said.
“This is a time for renewal, reconciliation and a time for national restoration.
“Our country has been ‘shaken and stirred’ but totally supported through challenging times by our absolute belief and commitment in God’s plans to prosper and not harm us, and that love ultimately prevails.”
Two months later when she addressed the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly for the first time as Samoa’s Prime Minister, Fiame knew to whom the island nation was indebted.
“Many labeled the events that unfolded following our 2021 elections a constitutional crisis.
“While these were difficult times for Samoa, it was also a key part of our journey moving forward as a mature democracy.
“It divided our country and tested all key pillars of our society – our faith, our culture and the rule of law.
“However, my delivering this statement as the first female Prime Minister of Samoa and bringing about a change in government after decades are testament to the fact that the rule of law has prevailed.”
As leader of FAST, she could have easily entered into a tit-for-tat battle with her former leader, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi who as minister of finance in 1988 offered Fiame her first junior ministerial job working as the parliamentary under-secretary for finance.
As a politician and high-ranking matai (chief), she could have whipped up her people and supporters into a frenzy of violent protests and rioting during the protracted stand-off after the election.
As Samoan journalist and political commentator Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson rightly pointed out, tribal warfare is entrenched in Samoan culture, and Fiame “has the cultural clout to trigger such reaction.”
Yet she didn’t.
Lagipoiva tells Islands Business this is because: “Fiame is of a certain lineage, intellect and had the law and (election) results on her side.
‘[Violent reaction] was never mentioned or ever inferred.
“She knew her party won, so she was comforted by that very fact.
“She had a very strong legal team who backed her and made sure everything was by the book and they were observing due process.
“Fiame is a high chief of special status, and they don’t make rash decisions or act in haste.
“All her actions and words were befitting of her stature.”
For her steadfast commitment to the rule of law, and her unbreakable loyalty to the ideals of democracy and free choice, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, the first woman Prime Minister of Samoa, is Islands Business’ Pacific Person of the Year, sharing the honours with Fiji policewoman and UN trailblazer, Unaisi Bolatolu Vuniwaqa.
Respect earned, not entitlement
Fiame’s view on her responsibilities as a traditional leader have been grounded by her upbringing, especially by her mother, the late Laulu Fetauimalemau Mata’afa, herself a parliamentarian.
“I think what I learnt through her … is that perhaps from the outside people think that you’re respected, you’re revered, whatever, because of your title,” Fiame told the authors of her biography, ‘Fiame Naomi Mata’afa – Samoa’s First Female Deputy Prime Minister.’
“There is definitely that element because that’s what the system is [based] on, but what my mother taught me mostly is that it’s actually the relationships that really make that strong.
“So it’s a real earning thing, as opposed to [an] entitlement thing.”
From the time her mother changed her primary school because she was being recognised as (and acting like) the Prime Minister’s daughter to one where she was more anonymous, to starting a family banana business to help pay for Fiame’s schooling in New Zealand, a life of earning respect was drummed into her at a very early age.
This was her compass when she had to go before the Lands and Titles Court at just 20 years of age to contest her father’s Fiame title. And it has guided her 36 years career as a politician.
Women on top
When Pacific Women Leaders convene under the umbrella of the Pacific Islands Forum in January, Fiame will be one of only two female elected national leaders alongside New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern (coincidentally another former Pacific Person of the Year).
She follows former Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in a very small club.
Sometimes it feels as if that club is shrinking. In Tonga’s most recent election, not a single woman was elected, prompting activist Ofa-ki-Levuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki to tell the ABC that there’s clearly more work to be done: “Talking about special measures or affirmative action is not something taken onboard by our key decision leaders, but I think it’s time now.”
The fact is, in countries like Tonga, women have not voted for women.
In Fiji, women’s representation in parliament is better than in many other Pacific nations, but there’s still inequity.
Opposition parliamentarian Lenora Qereqeretabua recently said, “Imagine if Fiji’s Parliament and parliaments across the Pacific, women being represented by people who understand our experiences because you have lived them.
“And the way to get there is to vote more women in office or to have more women candidates — women with kids, women with no kids, women of different ages, women from different economic, religious and ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQI women, women with disabilities — let’s have more women candidates.”
In Samoa, much has been made of the women who have supported Fiame throughout her political career, and especially when she decided to leave HRPP and take a tilt at the Prime Ministership with FAST. As ‘Friends for Fiame’ a core group of leaders, businesswomen and life-long friends provided campaigning and moral support. That in turn, inspired younger women supporters.
Fiame has a pragmatic approach. “One of the things I always tell women is don’t just fight for women’s equality per se. Try and present yourself that this is the right thing, and people should be operating in that way. Because I think with the gender equality thing, you know, it’s always like the asking permission from someone to allow us to have the full rights and recognition and acknowledgement that I think we should take the point that it is ours and what other people, other institutions are doing are wrong,” she told PNG broadcaster Hilda Wayne earlier this year.
When Islands Business interviewed Fiame in November 2020, she expressed concern about Samoa’s role in the region, suggesting there might have been some “regression, especially around governance issues, democracy.”
She’s since participated (virtually) in a series of important discussions in the leadup to COP26, although unable to attend the climate conference herself. Samoa will also host the University of the South Pacific’s embattled Vice Chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, following his deportation from Fiji and his stint in Nauru. Domestically, there are still court cases pertaining to a couple of constituencies, the status of the controversial Lands and Titles Court, the hard work involved in building trust in a civil service that has had 22 years of HRPP rule, and like the rest of the world, the challenge of rebuilding an economy ravaged by COVID-19.
But Fiame’s belief in the ideals of democracy, and respect for the rule of law was as steadfast as the volcanic boulders that line Lotofaga’s coastline this year, rekindling the fire for democracy in the hearts of many people—not just in Samoa but also on the wider shores of the Pacific.
Respect for fundamental freedoms and the rule of law were lessons the people of Samoa, led by Fiame, have taught us.
Pushed to the edge by Tuilaepa, good sense and common decency prevailed, and the will of the people eventually won the day.
Instead of falling into the dark and dreadful world of chaos and anarchy, this Polynesia island nation rose to the apex of a bright and promising future.
For Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, her life in public service has taken a full circle as that of her late father, Samoa’s founding Prime Minister, Fiame Mata’afa Faumuina Mulinu’u II.
