The majority have spoken and supported Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa to continue leading the country. Instead of the ayes, the motion on the vote of no confidence against Fiame and her cabinet has gone to the nays.

The Human Rights Protection Party went into the parliament session on Tuesday knowing very well that Fiame would not be ousted because the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi Party was keen on passing the amendments to the Electoral Act which party chair and leader La’auli Leuatea Schmidt has deemed as their promise.

The Laauli-led FAST needs the amendments because the changes in the electoral laws could be the difference in the general elections. It was also known that the members of parliament would not want to lose their seats and the benefits that come with it. The HRPP had the Constitutional right to ask for the motion and they did.

A day earlier, the Supreme Court delayed the case filed by the HRPP claiming Fiame did not command the majority in parliament anymore. The vote on Tuesday seems to show otherwise. She still commands the confidence of the majority if that is an indicator to measure confidence. The court case will now be called on Thursday and let us see which direction this will take.

The positive from the vote of no confidence was the unity, even momentarily, shown by the FAST party giving hope to many that the government can still work together to make important decisions such as passing laws, enforcing policies, improving people’s lives and passing the national budget.

An important and urgent law that needs to be addressed in this parliamentary session is the Constitution Amendment Bill 2024 which reverts the Court structure to its status quo and proposes the establishment of an interim LTC Court of Appeal to deal with appeals of more than 100 already lodged while disestablishing the LTC Court of Appeal and Review.  

The changes would lead to the formation of the Lands and Titles Appeals Court and the appointment of its judges. Many land cases are in a stalemate situation including the Afega and Leauvaa cases because the appeals court cannot be formed. After all, the laws do not support that.

Just because of these laws, the current two-headed judiciary is facing issues in dealing with cases. The nation needs an effective judiciary and the laws need to allow that to happen. Justice is being delayed and denied to many.

This change is a Constitutional one and a simple majority would not do. For the change to come into effect, a two-thirds majority is required. If the vote of no confidence is an indicator, then the likelihood of this bill passing looks more plausible.

There are 53 seats in the current parliament, a two-thirds majority would mean more than 36 votes. Of that, the FAST party has 35. It would be interesting to see if the HRPP would support the motion to allow the backlog of cases to be cleared and allow justice for people or if they stand to vote against it basically because of their principles of not being in favour of it. The more interesting thing would be to see if any of the HRPP members vote for the changes.

For now, the government, prime minister and her cabinet stay in place and the FAST party are still the majority. This the time for the government to move forward. There is a need to amend and make new laws that will benefit the people in the short time they have such as the Child Protection Act, the Right to Information Act, the Anti-Corruption Act, review of the Crimes Act and modernising other laws so they are not archaic.

Now there is an indication of the ability of the fractured FAST party to work together, the focus should be turned once again to the people and delivering the promises on health, education, social welfare, disability inclusion, eradicating gender-based violence, cutting down the cost of living and providing benefits for those living below the poverty line.

This is also the time for Fiame to act on the promises of transparency and accountability and hold every member of parliament responsible for the lack of it. This is the time for members of parliament to do what they were voted in for. That is to improve the lives of the people they represent and not just their lives.

Fiame remains and the majority have backed her position in parliament. But this is Samoa, anything can happen when it comes to politics.

Interesting days lie ahead.