Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi says he supports “all the sentiments” laid out by John Tamihere after the party president called for two of his MPs to throw in the towel.
Crisis and infighting within the party deepened yesterday after Tamihere publicly fired back at his rebel MPs, Tākuta Ferris and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.
Speaking ahead of a planned meeting with iwi chairs to address the party’s internal crisis, Waititi defended Tamihere and rejected calls for the party president’s resignation, saying allegations of toxicity, bullying and dictatorship within TPM lacked evidence.
John Tamihere says MPs Takuta Ferris and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi should be the ones to go. (Source: 1News)
“I support all the sentiments laid out by John Tamihere in his post,” he said.
“The accusations were made by a certain party, and I think those questions need to be posed to them, and to come with the receipts, and to come with the evidence.”
Tamihere earlier claimed the “rogue MPs” sought to challenge the co-leaders, with Kapa-Kingi alleged to have gauged support for replacing Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, while Ferris would challenge Waititi.
Kapa-Kingi told 1News today “there has never been a challenge”.
Asked if Ferris or Kapa-Kingi would be expelled from the party, Waititi said Te Pāti Māori was working through an internal process set by its national council.
Takuta Ferris reacts to a vote to suspend fellow MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. (Source: 1News)
“That’s not a decision for me. That is a decision for the electorates. We’ve taken it back to the people, and then the national council is making those decisions, ” he said. “Heading forward, we must allow that process to happen, and we’re cleaning up our whare.”
Waititi added: “There’s a process in play that has been set by the national council, not the national executive. The national council is made up of all the electorates, and they have four members on there, and they’ve made a decision, and we’ve got a process in place.”
Asked how he felt about potentially sitting beside the MPs in Parliament, Waititi said: “There are people in that house that I don’t like sitting next to at all. This is not about who I like to sit next to. This is about ensuring that we continue to be the voice of our people.”
The Waiariki MP said he would meet with the National Iwi Chairs Forum later today, which last week called for a hui to help resolve the party’s internal challenges.
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“It’s good that the iwi chairs feel that they have some ownership of this movement.”
Waititi likened the party’s struggles to storms weathered by ancestors who traversed oceans and fought in world wars.
“We were going through a reset. Resets don’t happen overnight, and resets will continue as we continue to build the momentum of our Māori voice here.”
Eru Kapa-Kingi last week accused TMP of a “dictatorship model” – now the party has hit back against him and his mother, their own MP Mariameno Kapa-King. (Source: 1News)
The latest salvo in the war of words on both sides has caused the party’s inner turmoil to spill into public view once again.
It is the latest conflict after months of bad blood, after allegations made by former party executive Eru Kapa-Kingi of a “dictatorship model” by Te Pāti Māori’s leadership.
Tamihere on offensive after calls for him to quit
The executive of TPM’s Te Tai Tonga electorate committee, which selected Tākuta Ferris as its candidate, began a petition for Tamihere’s resignation yesterday.
The petition, which was posted to Instagram, was also liked by co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The electorate had previously abstained from suspending Kapa-Kingi at the National Council hui in October. It later called for a vote of no confidence in Tamihere.
On Facebook, the party president replied later in the day with a 1335-word post.
“Instead of endeavouring to destroy our ability to end this Government’s reign next year, we invite Kapa-Kingi and Ferris to do the honourable thing,” Tamihere wrote.
He said the MPs’ conduct is “not based on mana, is not based on integrity and honesty or on principle. Their conduct is based on greed, avarice and entitlement”.
John Tamihere says the party is focused on a reset after the election of new MP Oriini Kaipara. (Source: 1News)
Speaking to 1News yesterday, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi said Tamihere’s post was “much of the same to be completely honest”.
“I’m not disturbed by it.”
She reiterated her message, “it’s time for change”.
When asked if she would take Tamihere’s advice and resign, Kapa-Kingi said: “The only way I leave this role is when Te Tai Tokerau says it’s time to move on.”
“I was elected and [Tamihere] was not,” she said.
