Tomorrow’s Woman?
Tomorrow’s Woman?
The election of Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa as the first female prime minister of Sāmoa has been widely heralded as a critical juncture, especially for women, that will change the nature of Sāmoan politics. In this Comment piece we endorse the observation that Fiamē’s success is remarkable and her election as prime minister significant. But we also caution against the somewhat idealistic and naïve assumption that her prime ministership will be a radical break from the past. Fiamē is well suited to the role because she has three decades of experience as a member of the former governing party in which she rose to the rank of deputy prime minister. She only broke ranks in opposition to reforms that she felt were a significant threat to the rule of law and to fa‘aSamoa cultural beliefs and traditions. If she is a success as prime minister, it will be because her status, profile and highly tuned political instincts embody and balance both continuity and change.
Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa, Sāmoa, female politicians, prime minister
1-4
Spark, Ceridwen
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Corbett, Jack
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Fairbairn-Dunlop, Peggy
57dbc6c8-28fa-47bd-8fe1-ee79545fc60f
Spark, Ceridwen
f70eb9cf-1e10-49bd-a0a5-3b898427a19e
Corbett, Jack
ad651655-ac70-4072-a36f-92165e296ce2
Fairbairn-Dunlop, Peggy
57dbc6c8-28fa-47bd-8fe1-ee79545fc60f
Abstract
The election of Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa as the first female prime minister of Sāmoa has been widely heralded as a critical juncture, especially for women, that will change the nature of Sāmoan politics. In this Comment piece we endorse the observation that Fiamē’s success is remarkable and her election as prime minister significant. But we also caution against the somewhat idealistic and naïve assumption that her prime ministership will be a radical break from the past. Fiamē is well suited to the role because she has three decades of experience as a member of the former governing party in which she rose to the rank of deputy prime minister. She only broke ranks in opposition to reforms that she felt were a significant threat to the rule of law and to fa‘aSamoa cultural beliefs and traditions. If she is a success as prime minister, it will be because her status, profile and highly tuned political instincts embody and balance both continuity and change.
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CSJPH_Spark_etal._exported
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Accepted/In Press date: 18 November 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 18 November 2021
Keywords:
Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa, Sāmoa, female politicians, prime minister
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 455542
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/455542
ISSN: 0022-3344
PURE UUID: b431295d-dd7a-44b7-81d0-b8c73f47a1c0
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Date deposited: 24 Mar 2022 17:42
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 06:58
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Author:
Ceridwen Spark
Author:
Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop
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