Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa met with the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries La’auli Leuatea Schmidt this morning to discuss his future in the cabinet. 

This comes at the back of an intense six-hour caucus meeting of the Fa’atuatua ile Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party on Tuesday where all members of parliament spoke about the issue. 

The cabinet meets at 1 p.m., and the Prime Minister is expected to announce her decision about her senior minister and F.A.S.T. chairman. 

Fiame met with La’auli on Monday asking him to consider stepping down following charges against him. 

Several MPs from the party confirmed a unanimous decision from the caucus meeting where the members threw their support behind La’auli and to retain his portfolio until the finalisation of his case. 

While the FAST party has made their position known the final call ultimately comes from the leader of the government.

Party members were highly critical of the division within the political party and at the centre of their concerns was the independence of the Ministry of Police. 

Many of the members felt they were being “targeted” by the police in an ongoing investigation where two of their MPs have been charged while those in the opposition have been given a pass.

This has drawn the attention of party members who claimed the move from authority was to break up the ruling party. 

Others were so unhappy with the current situation that they attempted to have the Prime Minister removed in a vote of no-confidence but later resolved to “iron things out and move forward”. 

The Samoa Observer has reached out to the Prime Minister's Office for an interview on Tuesday.