Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Samoa's prime minister said he was "appointed by God," and refused to accept his election loss

AFP:

His allies on Monday physically locked the prime minister-elect out of parliament to stop her from being sworn in. An impromptu ceremony took place anyway, in a tent on the lawn outside.

Reuters:

Samoa has been a close ally of China during [the outgoing(?) prime minister]'s more than two-decades rule as prime minister.

[The incoming(?) prime minister] is expected to reframe Samoa's relations with China after telling Reuters last week she would shelve a $100 million Beijing-backed port development, calling the project excessive for a small country already heavily indebted to China.