November 23, 2020
Pressure on for National to contest Maori seats
The chair of National Party Māori wing Kahurangi Blue chair is welcoming support from leader Judith Collins for the party to again contest the Māori seats.
National stopped putting up candidates in the seats in 2005 when Don Brash was leader, and its board rejected pleas earlier this year to reverse the policy.
Tu Williams says National is failing to stand up for its democratic principles.
"We've had Māori people who are on the (Māori) roll who have made contact with us saying we are denying them their right to have a democratic choice as long as National is not standing candidates in the Māori seats," he says.
Tu Williams says no party owns the Māori seats, and the record since the first MMP election in 1996 shows the Māori votes is mobile and will go where the people believe they will get the best outcome.
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