Samoa's First Woman PM-Elect Dismisses Rival's "Electoral Games" Amid Vote Crisis

Fiame Naomi Mata'afa revealed on Tuesday she was facing a private prosecution over the makeshift ceremony.

A constitutional crisis in the Pacific nation of Samoa headed back to the courts on Tuesday as Prime Minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mata'afa dismissed the "electoral games" of her predecessor, who has refused to relinquish power. Mata'afa was sworn in as the country's first female prime minister at an extraordinary ceremony in a tent outside parliament on Monday after the island nation's long-serving ruler refused to cede power and ordered the doors of the building to be locked. Mata'afa revealed Tuesday she was facing a private prosecution over the makeshift ceremony. "It's all part of the electoral game I suppose... I don't think we were terribly surprised," Mata'afa told New Zealand broadcaster TVNZ of the latest legal manoeuvres.