There's a call for more women in Samoan village politics as the national political stand-off continues
Samoa has done more than most Pacific nations to encourage greater political representation of women with its constitutional quota requiring 10 per cent of MPs to be female.
But there's a call for more to be done at the village level where many communities still will not allow woman to sit on local councils even if they have a matai, or chiefly, title.
“There's a discriminatory element in those villages that say you can have a title but can't sit on the council because the whole idea is you get your title, not matter what level of title, that's your ticket,” said FAST party leader and prime minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mata'afa.
The quota is at the centre of the current stalemate between the incumbent Human Rights Protection Party and the FAST party following April's election.
Dr Roannie Ng Shiu from the Australian National University surveyed Samoans about the quota in 2016, when it was first used in the national election.
She found there was support for greater female representation in politics but also a lot of reluctance.
“There's a lot of sentiment about only women with high titles from political families should run for politics,” she said.
“A lot of other people went to religious doctrine and said women shouldn't be in politics because of their religious beliefs”.
Meanwhile, Australia's two main lawyer bodies have called for the rule of law to prevail in Samoa following the contested election in April.
The Law Council of Australia President Jacoba Brasch QC said it is the role of the courts to interpret Samoa's Constitution, and to ensure matters arising out of the election are resolved through the proper judicial process.
Dr Brasch said the outcomes must also be respected.
The Australian Bar Association has issued a similar appeal saying it supports the Samoan judiciary in exercising its vital role in resolving the issue.
The New Zealand Law society earlier said attacks on the nation's judiciary were unacceptable
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