July 04, 2013
Sykes wants Māori Party back on course
Mana President Annette Sykes is keen to see talks aimed at healing the rift with the Māori Party.
The Ikaroa-Rāwhiti by-election, where Mana pushed the Māori Party into third with a combined vote exceeding winner Meka Whaitiris' total, has put pressure on the two Māori parties to merge.
Ms Sykes say they have common ground in promoting independence and self-determination for Māori, as opposed to the policies of assimilation and amalgamation coming out of Labour and National.
"The Māori Party had deluded itself to believe you can achieve an independent agenda working with a party like the National Party without some clear safeguards, and it's that discussion that needs to take place and I'm certainly hopeful that it will occur," she says.
Ms Sykes says any discussion about the future of the Māori parties also needs to involve a wider group of Maori intellectuals who may not participate in parliamentary politics.
Kia tau te puehu i waenga i ngā Rōpū Tōrangapā Māori
E rikarika ana te toihau ō te rōpū Mana ā Annette Sykes ki te hora i te tatau pounamu ki te Rōpū Tōrangapū Māori.
Hei tā Sykes, ko ētahi ō ngā kaupapa ā ngā rōpū e rua, he ōrite, pērā i te rapu i te tino rangatiratanga mō te iwi Māori, ā, he rerekee ērā momo kaupapa, i ngā kaupapa whakawaimeha iwi ā ngā rōpū pērā i ā Reipa mē Nahinara.
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