Samoa’s prime minister and the five other ousted members of the ruling FAST Party are reportedly challenging their removal.

FAST chair La’auli Leuatea Schmidt on Wednesday announced the removal of the prime minister and five Cabinet ministers from the ruling party.

Twenty party members signed for the removal of Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and five others, including Deputy Prime Minister Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio and two original members.

Samoa media outlets have been reporting that in a letter dated January 17, one of the removed members, Faualo Harry Schuster, wrote: “We all reject the letter of termination as relayed as unlawful and unconstitutional.”

In the letter, which is circulating on social media, he claimed they were still members of the FAST party.

Local media reports had suggested members of the FAST party had called for Fiame’s removal as prime minister.

Meanwhile, the government’s Savali newspaper has confirmed the removal of 13 associate ministers of Fiame’s Cabinet.

“The termination of their appointments stem from the issue of confidence in the Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa to continue work with the associate ministers, as well as the associate ministers’ expression of no confidence in her leadership,” it said.

“The official statement emphasises that the functions and responsibilities of the Executive Arm of Government continues under the leadership of the Prime Minister — Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and Cabinet.”

Fiame had last week removed three members of her Cabinet, after she also stood down La’auli, who is facing criminal charges.

Parliament is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday, January 21.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A Pacific health and social service provider in Auckland fears the city’s fifth lockdown will push families back into hardship.

Fono chief executive Tevita Funaki said that before the latest covid-19 outbreak, many whanau had been getting back on their feet economically.

But the prospect of a prolonged period at alert level 4 would be a real setback for them, he said.

“We are very concerned around the level of hardship of families, I think families were starting to get back into normality.”

The lockdown would be a tipping point for many and Funaki said many people would be feeling stressed and anxious.

In previous lockdowns, they had also seen an increase in family violence.

The Fono is gearing up to provide more food, financial, welfare and mental health support in the coming weeks.

Funaki said Pacific agencies across Auckland would be working with community leaders to ensure families have access to what they need.

Families with children would be experiencing added pressure, with schools reverting to online learning.

Funaki said many households were overcrowded and still did not have access to devices or internet connections.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz