Tomorrow's woman?

The election of Fiame Naomi Mata'afa as the first female prime minister of Samoa has been widely heralded as a critical juncture, especially for women, that will change the nature of Samoan politics. In this Comment piece we endorse the observation that Fiame's success is remarkable and her election as prime minister significant. But we also caution against the somewhat idealistic and naive assumption that her prime ministership will be a radical break from the past. Fiame is well suited to the role because she has three decades of experience as a member of the former governing party in which she rose to the rank of deputy prime minister. She only broke ranks in opposition to reforms that she felt were a significant threat to the rule of law and to fa'aSamoa cultural beliefs and traditions. If she is a success as prime minister, it will be because her status, profile and highly tuned political instincts embody and balance both continuity and change.