May 05, 2023
Political shift spiritual says Tamihere
Māori Party president John Tamihere is describing Meka Whaitiri’s defection from Labour as a spiritual crossing over.
Speaker Adrian Rurawhe yesterday confirmed the Ikaroa Rawhiti MP did not have to face a by-election because she had not triggered the waka jumping law.
Her letter to him said her vote would no longer be cast by Labour, and that she wanted to sit alongside the two Māori Party MPs – not that she had resigned from Labour.
It means she remains a Labour MP in terms of the Electoral Act, although she will be regarded as an independent member of Parliament.
Mr Tamihere says being in the Maori Party means not caring about what other parties think of them.
“Part of the emancipation and the liberation of myself and of Meka is to throw off the shackles that are spiritually and physically over us where we are always having to look over our shoulder to get the consent of the white man in regard to ‘am I doing OK? Don’t beat me up so much today. Am I unworthy as usual?'” he says.
John Tamihere says there are now three Maori Party seats in Parliament, and the party is set to determine who will be the next Government.