Contradicting a court decision, the caretaker Prime Minister has adamantly claimed a judgement leaves his party as the "custodians" of Government and in a dead heat for leadership of the nation. 

Despite an Appellate Court’s decision voiding the election of his party's candidate Ali'imalemanu Alofa Tuuau Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi has adamantly claimed his party now controls 26 seats in Parliament, the same as its rivals, the Faatuatua ile Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party.

While a decision by the court delivered on Wednesday did say the number of women in the next Parliament should be increased from five to six, it expressly said there was no guarantee that Ali'imalemanu would be the one chosen.

In fact, Ali'imalemanu's warrant of election, signed by the Head of State last month, was voided by the court. 

It was instead decided to wait until the entirety of the election - including legal challenges, petitions and possible by-elections - was dealt with before deciding who the next M.P. was. The prospective M.P. could be drawn from any party depending on the wide scope of legal and political possibilities yet to play out. 

Until those legalities are resolved the Faatuatua ile Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party will continue to enjoy a slender 26-25 seat lead on the floor of Parliament until the court process has concluded. In previous years Parliament has sat while electoral petitions are ongoing.

This year an extraordinary 28 petitions were lodged, six directly involving women. Any change to the number of women resulting from a by-election stemming from a challenge could affect Ali'imalemanu's appointment. 

Nonetheless, Tuilaepa claimed Wednesday's decision as a victory for the caretaker Government: 

“The decision of the court confirms that there should be six women in Parliament percentage-wise as stipulated under the constitution before the Parliament can convene," he said. 

“The Appeal Court decision [Wednesday] confirms the six seats for women, and so this means Ali'imalemanu Alofa remains as the Member of Parliament [for Alataua West] and this is the most important part. 

"There is also another part of the judgement that says, the sixth seat can only be activated after the election petition that’s currently pending before the court."

On Wednesday the Court of Appeal overturned a decision from the Supreme Court which concluded that the minimum of 10 per cent under the Constitution is translated into six and not five.

But the inclusion of another woman Member of Parliament (M.P.) in the Legislative Assembly could be months away.

In an interview with the Samoa Observer, Ali’imalemanu said the most important thing to her is winning over another seat for women in a male-dominated Parliament.

The uncertainty of Aliimalemanu’s appointment leaves the Fa’atuatua ile Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party with a, for now, one-seat majority on the floor of Parliament. 

During his radio program with TV3 and Radio Polynesia, Tuilaepa said court’s judgement has dealt with the most important aspect of the issue they have been fighting for, an additional seat for the women. 

“However there is also another issue [in the judgement] that the two parties should meet and iron out tomorrow," he said. 

“This is an important judgement."

The caretaker Prime Minister said this specific issue should have never been challenged in court, as the judges have other important matters on their hands. 

“It was the F.A.S.T. party that challenged this decision in court," he said. 

He asserted that the court’s decision means that the H.R.P.P. has a guaranteed 26 seats and that the Parliament cannot convene. 

“But our 26 seats will only be activated after the election petitions and like I said the most important thing has been addressed by the court and as indicated under the constitution that six women must be seated in Parliament before it can convene,” said Tuilaepa. 

He added the H.R.P.P. will continue as the "custodians" of the Government. 

“It is operation as normal, we already have Cabinet Ministers who are well versed on how operating their Ministries and there is no need to panic. The only issue at hand is the budget and we have four weeks to deal with this and if there is a spill over, hence the need to meet with the [F.A.S.T. party]," he said.

Attempts to contact Fiame Naomi Mataafa, the leader of F.A.S.T. and Prime Minister-elect, were unsuccessful on Wednesday.