January 28, 2013
Ministerial role part of leadership package
Former Labour minister Nanaia Mahuta believes it is untenable for the Maori Party co-leaders to quit the leadership but remain in cabinet.
Tariana Turia is proposing to take that course in the name of party revitalisation, and she wants Pita Sharples to let Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell take the other co-leadership role.
Ms Mahuta says it’s clear the pressure is coming down on Dr Sharples, and his Maori affairs portfolio must be under threat.
"I don’t think that it's acceptable that if there is a change in leadership in the Maori Party that you could have two people who are not leading the party but still in Cabonet. I think if you are going to give Te Ururoa a good shot at it, then he should have a shot at also a ministerial portfolio. People who have pinned their hopes on the Maori Party would want it them to be players n government and certainly would want its leader to be part of a cabinet," she says.
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