Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Samoa's Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa has announced she will seek a dissolution of parliament and an early election.

Fiame, who has led a minority government since being ousted from her former FAST party in January, finally conceded defeat on the floor of parliament on Tuesday morning after her government's 2025 Budget was voted down.

MPs from both the opposition Human Rights Protection Party and Fiame's former FAST party joined forces to defeat the budget with the final vote coming in 34 against, 16 in support and 2 abstentions.

The decision comes amid a period of political turmoil that kicked off shortly after New Year's.

A split in the FAST Party in January saw Fiame remove FAST Party chairman La'auli Leuatea Schmidt and several FAST ministers from her Cabinet.

In turn, he ejected her from FAST, leaving her isolated and leading a minority government.

Earlier this year, over a two-week period, Fiame and her minority government defeated two back-to-back leadership challenges.

This comes just after the political turmoil in the islands led to protests in Auckland as protesters claimed their right to speak up about the situation in Samoa, has been denied in their homeland.

Members of the Samoan community gathered in Auckland over the weekend for another protest, calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister of Samoa, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa.

Just in front of the Samoan consulate in Mangere, the group sang songs and held banners, calling for the PM to step down, for the second time in as many weeks — and with pressures including this one, she did.

(Sources: Tagata Pasifika & RNZ Pacific)