Indeed, she says in her sworn affidavit that Tamihere had been chairing the weekly caucus meetings of MPs in Parliament since September. And it was he who sent Kapa-Kingi an ‘ultimatum’ on her overspending that sent the simmering issue into overdrive.
To have the party president chair caucus instead of the leader or a co-leader is unprecedented. Chairing caucus is a major part of the role of the leader.
Dealing with parliamentary budget issues is also very firmly the role of the leader.
This makes it very clear that despite not being an MP, John Tamihere is both the president and leader of Te Pati Maori.
Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer are, at best, the co-deputy leaders.
If there is a Labour/Green/TPM Government, it will be John Tamihere deciding what TPM does, and how they do it.
Tamihere is the President and Leader. His daughter is the General Manager and one of his staff is the Secretary/Treasurer. One of the co-deputy leaders is his son-in-law. This is not a political party anymore. It is a family business.
This makes it very clear that despite not being an MP, John Tamihere is both the president and leader of Te Pati Maori.
Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer are, at best, the co-deputy leaders.
If there is a Labour/Green/TPM Government, it will be John Tamihere deciding what TPM does, and how they do it.
Tamihere is the President and Leader. His daughter is the General Manager and one of his staff is the Secretary/Treasurer. One of the co-deputy leaders is his son-in-law. This is not a political party anymore. It is a family business.
This is where Kapa-Kingi alleges that Tamihere said he was “coming for [her] boys” and wanted “utu” (revenge).
Norman says in his evidence that Kapa-Kingi called Tamihere a “f….n c…t”.
This is the party that says tikanga must be followed!
The party’s caucus manual was included in the document bundle. Among many fairly anodyne rules and procedures it is revealed that TPM prohibits its MPs from “socialising with alcohol or other substances with Media or other Political Parites [sic] or Members of Parliament outside of Te Pāti Māori”.
This is both disturbing and explains a lot. The prohibition on socialising with other MPs is a control freak level of paranoia. It is also very bad. You want people from other parties to socialise and develop relationships. But the prohibition explains a lot about TPM not wanting to actually achieve anything legislatively. They want to divide, not work with others.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.