Prime Minister Fiame, first woman to raise the Samoan flag, since independence in 1962

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A woman that has achieved many “firsts” in her political career.

Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa will go down in history as the first woman to raise the flag in celebration of Samoa’s 60 years of independence.

In an exclusive interview with Radio Polynesia, Fiame acknowledged Cabinet’s decision, in line with the milestone of her life achievements, being the first female Prime Minister, she is given the honor of raising the flag on 1 June 2022.

The seventh Prime Minister of Samoa, Fiame is the daughter of the Late Fiame Mata’afa Mulinu’u II Samoa’s first Prime Minister.

Fiame, is Samoa’s first female Cabinet Minister and served as the Minister of Women from 2006 to 2011 and Minister of Justice from 2011 to 2016.

She is also Samoa’s first female deputy prime minister and deputy leader of the HRPP from 2016 to 2020; she resigned in opposition to the controversial Lands and Title Bills, the following year she joined the newly founded FAST party and was unanimously elected its leader in March 2021.

Her party won a majority in the 2021 general election but defeated Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr Sailele Malielegaoi, refused to leave office, leading to the 2021 Samoan Constitutional crisis and it was resolved by the Court of Appeal on 23 July 2021, which ruled that Mataʻafa had been prime minister since 24 May.

Fiame was born five years before Samoa gained independence from New Zealand, in 1962.

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