SYDNEY (Reuters) -A national election in the Pacific island nation of Samoa has resulted in a resounding win for the incumbent FAST party, but will deliver a new leader, after Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa split from FAST before the poll.
Official results released by Samoa’s electoral commission on Friday showed that FAST, led by Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt, won 30 out of the 50 seats contested. The new Samoa Uniting Party, formed by Fiame, won only three seats, including her own.
The opposition Human Rights Protection Party won 14 seats and independent candidates won four seats.
On Friday, Samoa’s head of state, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, issued a warrant confirming the names of the new lawmakers who will form Samoa’s next parliament.
Five women won seats. The Samoa Observer reported, that under a 10 percent minimum representation rule, at least six women must sit in parliament, necessitating the creation of an additional seat.
Fiame, Samoa’s first female leader, was expelled from FAST in January after she dismissed Laaulialemalietoa, the party’s founder and chairman, from cabinet.
Laaulialemalietoa is expected to be sworn in as Samoa’s next prime minister.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)
