Maori vote catcher, or political train crash?

NEW ZEALAND – Potential co-operation between Mana and the Maori Party is being welcomed by Labour’s Kelvin Davis, who believes Hone Harawira will “tear the Maori Party apart”.

The Maori Party and the Mana Movement have signalled they are considering a partnership of sorts at next year’s general election as they look to win the Maori seats from Labour.

New Maori Party president Tukoroirangi Morgan and Mana Party leader Hone Harawira this week met face to face in Whangarei to talk about a potential political alliance as they began putting a five-year rift behind them.

Harawira said he was open to working more strategically with the Maori Party – whether it be electoral deals or on policy.

“My mind was always open to some kind of an arrangement, whether it’s a formal merger, an alliance, or some kind of memorandum of understanding that’s yet to be decided,” Harawira said.

Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell was a little more circumspect.

“No-one’s talking alliances at the moment,” Flavell said.

“No-one’s talking anything else other-than just simply seeing whether we can work together in terms of some policy platforms into the future, and maybe into the election, because the goal of course is to secure those Maori seats.”

Five years ago, Harawira walked away from the Maori Party after a spat with Flavell –but Flavell said politics was a “strange game”.

“It changes from year to year. We have to be able to respond to changes in the political arena.

“From at least our president’s point of view, I think, there’s been an opportunity for a new line to open the doors of discussion, nothing more nothing less, whether anything comes of it into the future will still have to be seen.”

Labour Party MP Kelvin Davis said he was delighted at the prospect of a merger or alliance between Mana and the Maori Party.

He said it would be the “last move the Maori Party made”.

“I think the sooner Hone joins up with the Maori Party the sooner he’ll tear them apart, and it can only be a good thing for us.

“He’s got a history of going in and just causing havoc and I can’t see it being any different.”

Davis predicted a “political train crash” will play out in public.

But Maria Bargh, head of Maori Studies at Victoria University, said greater co-operation between the two was a wise move.

“The Labour Party and the Greens have already indicated that they are going to be co-operating in certain kinds of ways, and those are the main competition in the Maori electorates which are vital for the Maori Party to win to continue on in Parliament.” She suspects the Maori Party and Mana will look to deals in key Maori electorates.

“And here we can think of Te Tai Tokerau obviously, and Waiariki and possibly even Ikaroa-Rawhiti as the areas most likely for a compromise between the Maori Party and the Mana Party.” - RNZ