....she quits Labour, joins the Maori Party and will sit in Parliament as an Independent
“This morning I have officially notified the Speaker that I have resigned from the New Zealand Labour Party and have joined Te Pati Maori, effective immediately … and as Ikaroa Rāwhiti sitting MP I intend to be seated with Te Pati Maori when we return to Parliament”
That declaration from Meka Whaitiri can be clearly heard in an audio recording included in a Stuff report.
At least, we think it can be clearly heard.
You won’t be alone if you get the impression from those words that Meka Whaitiri…
- (a) has resigned from the Labour Party; and
- (b) joined the Maori Party.
Meka Whaitiri has resigned from the Labour Party to join Te Pāti Māori, in a shock move that blindsided her former party.
A tearful Meka Whaitiri has confirmed this morning she resigned from the Labour Party and has now joined Te Pāti Māori: “Effective immediately”.
She intends to be seated with Te Pāti Māori when they are next in Parliament. It is currently uncertain if her resignation means she is now out of Parliament until the election under waka jumping provisions in the Electoral Act.
Former Labour MP and Minister Meka Whaitiri abruptly resigned and jumped ship to the Maori Party. –
Customs Minister Meka Whaitiri has announced she has quit Labour and will stand for Te Pāti Māori – a surprise move Labour says has not been explained.
She appears set to be automatically ejected from Parliament under the “waka jumping” legislation.
Whaitiri confirmed the move on Wednesday in an event at Waipatu marae in Hastings, saying the decision to cross the floor was not an easy one, but was the right one.
“This morning, I have officially notified the Speaker that I have resigned from the Labour Party and am joining Te Pāti Māori,” she said.
Yes, it looks like Meka Whaitiri has firmly nailed her political colours to the Maori Party mast.
But wait.
When it comes to sitting in Parliament for the next several months, she will be an independent MP.
You are further entitled to think (because she said so) that she has written to Mr Speaker to advise him of her resignation from Labour and defection to the Maori Party.
But Mr Speaker (this important office is held by Adrian Rurawhe) insists he hasn’t received such a letter and without it there is not much he can do when it comes to invoking the waka-jumping legislation.
The ‘waka-jumping’ or ‘party-hopping’ law is the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill, passed in September 2018 with the support of Labour, NZ First and the Greens (but National and ACT opposed it).
It was designed to prevent MPs from ditching their party during a parliamentary term.
Under the legislation, an MP’s seat is automatically vacated if they deliver a signed, written notice to the Speaker resigning from the party they were elected for.
The objective is to maintain the proportionality of representation in Parliament.
But RNZ reports a law expert as saying Adrian Rurawhe’s interpretation of parliamentary rules has allowed Meka Whaitiri to remain in Parliament as an independent MP despite her defection from the Labour Party.
The waka jumping rules will not result in her being expelled from Parliament.
In Parliament yesterday, Mr Speaker clarified his role in relation to the creation of vacancies under the Electoral Act 1993.
“Like you all, I have seen media coverage stating that the Hon Meka Whaitiri intended to leave one party and join another. But those statements themselves do not cause the member’s seat to become vacant.”
Mr Speaker drew attention to Section 55B of the Electoral Act 1993 which provides that
“… for a notice from a member to have the effect of making that member’s seat become vacant, the notice would need to be signed by the member giving the notice and be addressed to the Speaker. It would also need to notify the Speaker that the member had resigned from the parliamentary membership of the political party for which they were elected or that they wished to be recognised for parliamentary purposes as an independent member or a member of another political party. A communication that does not comply with these requirements is not a notice that gives rise to a vacancy.”
Mr Speaker acknowledged he had received a message from Meka Whaitiri informing him that her vote would no longer be cast by the Labour Party and that she wished to be seated in the Chamber next to members of Te Paati Māori.
But this – he explained – was not a written notice that complies with Section 55B of the Electoral Act 1993.
It’s fair to suggest the circumstances are challenging for the Speaker .
“As Speaker, I must administer the House’s procedures, and this is problematic when a member’s party status is unclear.
“In practical terms, I need to rule on how to treat a member who no longer sits or votes with the party they sat and voted with previously. Using my judgment and the knowledge I had that the Hon Meka Whaitiri no longer wishes to serve as a member of the Labour Party, I determined that under Standing Order 35(5), the member would be regarded as an independent member for parliamentary purposes.”
Ah – so that’s what “independent” means.
As an independent MP, Whaitiri will have rights to ask oral questions and speak in debates in proportion to the fact she is just one of 119 members in the House.
The Labour Party’s allocation will be adjusted accordingly.
The member also will need to apply to Mr Speaker if she wishes to seek permission to be absent.
Not fully independent, then.
But not a former MP under the waka-jumping law, either.
Meka Whaitiri is an independent member under Parliament’s Standing Orders, but a member of the parliamentary Labour Party so far as the Electoral Act is concerned, even though she has told us (see the opening sentence of this article) she has joined the Maori Party.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
1 comment:
I’m thinking yellow curved shaped fruit 🍌 and a non democratic run country mainly found in South America. Hmmm 🤔
We’re pretty close!
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