There are some who'd advise against me sharing these thoughts and ideas, saying that 'I should not look to my past'. Others who may say 'Is there a point to you saying this?'. Others still may contend that 'It does nothing'... or even worse.. I may be called something of a traitor.
I do NOT write this for any of those people particularly.
I write for those genuine friends, family and associates of mine who remain in, who support, who vote for the Maori Party... but who are OPEN to a different view.
Whanau...
I can not categorically say that the Maori Party in 2017 had a highly successful campaign. In hindsight, I think they should reflect on the 2 kawenata they signed for 2016 and 2017 with MANA and One Pacific. I don't think that any of those Kawenata served the Maori Party, MANA Movement or One Pacific. I don't know that having Non-Maori candidates in the Maori Party, truly served their purposes or kaupapa.
I can NOT contend that it was in the best interests of Rahui Papa and Tukuroirangi Morgan to have the Maori King's support for the Maori Party. In fact in the Maori Party's history, it is not a strong result compared to previous years (2008 and 2005).
I (like the rest of the country) was shocked when I heard that Te Ururoa Flavell lost the Waiariki seat, I had predicted that he would win. He did not.
I think even with standing in many General Seats, this did not help the overall Party vote. We see that they had THE WORST Party vote result, in the Party's history.
I HAVE to say, some of their General seat candidates were naive. Others could never get away from news stories of corruption. Some still, were said to have expressed homophobic views. None of this served the purposes of the Maori Party.
Now all of this... on top of some of the obvious... like maori voters (rightly or wrongly) continually associating the Maori Party with the National Party, or controversial legislation like Ture Whenua reforms, the lack of focus on the issues that affected the average Maori....
ALL of this contributed to the Maori Party's poorest showing EVER!!!
And so whanau, there is no way, that anyone can say with certainty that the Maori Party can have a great future.
I do not suggest that in it's current form, with the current candidates, current executive, current leadership, current policies and current marketing..... that the Maori Party can survive.
In fact, I also do not encourage the Maori Party to continue to do what it has done this year. It would be silly to do so.
This was the worst result for the Maori Party... and may I say... doing in 2017 what was called for by members in previous Elections is NOT how to win!!!!!!! Those calls were specific to those previous years. Conditions have proven different in 2017... and the Maori Party did not see this or read this properly.
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My advice to my former Party, is that the great gains of previous terms like Whanau Ora, U.N.D.R.I.P and others are won and continued. The Maori seats are also secured for survival.
The Maori Party in it's current form has served a purpose and a time passed.
It it's current form it serves NO Purpose. I don't think it should continue in it's current form.
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It is not about a 'Rejig, Reimagine, Rethink'. NO!!!! It is time to set this kaupapa of the Maori Party (2004 - 2017) to rest, to END!!!
There is no recovery from the electoral difficulties of this year. The people and members need to move on.... and rethink individually what they should do.
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To be fair, or try to seem so... all hope may no be lost... but something more than radical needs to happen.... and there is no way of knowing what that is at this point.
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Note that I caveat everything I say; I am a former member and former voter of and for the Maori Party. It may be obvious to some that I am no longer a member and am in fact a member of another Party.
Nga mihi o te waa e hoa,
ReplyDeleteFor many of us the loss of the independent Kaupapa Maori Voice of the Maori Party within parliament was a tough bitter blow. Your shock announcement that you were going to support Pene Henare over Shane Taurima was also a bitter blow to many of us within the Maori party. Many within the Party speak disparaging of you today especially of these very comments you voiced on Marae. But not me. I have refused to echo their thoughts as it was after the election I began to see the writing was on the wall for us when we went with National and ate our own to stay at the table. That is when the rot set in . We in the MP were the Architects of our own defeat. Instead of walking away and getting what was needed from a confidence and supply agreement we chose to stay. It was like throwing the waka into top gear and watching it to see how far it would go before breaking apart.
First term it was okay, second term we broke apart and third term we are out of parliament. There is your blueprint of what an alliance with National does for us. We should never have tried to split Hone from us. We should have walked & kept the 21,000 members together. Preserved the movement. Alas we reaped the consequences.
Where to from here ? There is room for a reformed Maori Party. One which as Sandra Lee points out which remains to the left and remains independent. One that merges again with Mana & doesn’t go against wishes of the people. One that stays no more than one term with the government of the day & retires to the cross-benches for the duration of that government. You can get what you want from a good C&S deal. Better to be remembered for 3 or 5 good policies and remain independent then be shackled to an unpopular government and push threw dozens of policies that no one remembers.
Will we learn from this ? I would hope so. Time to rebrand. I do not think we will return to parliament in the next parliement unless some catalyst like F&SB propels us back on the scene. The next issue will be the water tax. Labour believes that everyone owns the water. No mention of Iwi there and depending how that is handled will or on a similar issue might just see us back. Except this time we would be wise to not to lose faith with the people and mantain our independence. In the meantime it is the Greens that we must look towards to serve our immediate Kaupapa Maori interests and to hold the Labour led Govt to account. Marama Davidson’s campaign of Parihaka day is a good start and one of many I am sure.
I know very little about politics but I do resonate with much of what Te Kapene has written. I am a paid up member of the Maori Party (formally a Labour supporter) and I wait to see what positive developments emerge in the after-math of our loss. I am committed to the Maori Party in whatever form it takes in the future, because I believe firmly in the need of Maori having an independent political voice. I like the idea of a Reformed Maori Party as expressed by Te Kapene. Being with National for 9 years was not good for us. It did not reflect an independent voice. We lost momentum (quoting Ward Kamo) back in 2010 when the schism took place. We should not have excommunicated Hone Harawira from our flock. At that juncture is where we lost our many followers and lost the plot. But there is hope of reform, renewal and regeneration.
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