Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples says the Maori Party is responsible for its poor showing in the Ikaroa-Rawhiti by-election.
The big upset in the by-election belonged to his party, who placed third behind Mana.
It came second behind Labour candidate Parekura Horomia in the 2011 general election.
Maori Party candidate Na Raihania garnered 2104 of the 10,519 regular votes compared to Mana candidate Te Hamua Nikora's 2607.
Labour's Meka Whaitiri won the election with a 1761 vote majority.
Ms Whaitiri said she was "humbled" by the support of both her party and the voters.
She told The Nation there was "a lot of hurt" within the electorate and housing and jobs were the biggest issues.
Mr
Sharples told The Nation there were several reasons behind the party's
low vote numbers, including the leadership challenge by Te Ururoa
Flavell and the popularity of Mana's candidate.
There was "no doubt" the party suffered from the leadership issues, he said.
"This
is the feeling that's been communicated to me around the areas [of
Ikaroa-Rawhiti] […] We have to come to terms with that and deal with
it."
"It's about settling the issue, really.
Both the parliamentary group as well as the party hierarchy have to talk
this through together."
He also attributed
their poor result to the popularity of Mr Nikora - a television
personality known for his work on Maori TV's Kai Time on the Road and
Homai te Pakipaki.
"Hamua's a personality. He
comes into all our homes and brings entertainment and things like this
and we like him. He's someone people can relate to. That was a
personality one, I think."
He ruled out joining
the Maori Party and Mana, despite a situation where if they had joined
they would have won the by-election.
However, Mr Sharples did not think the party's relationship with the National Party was the issue.
"I
see it as our party having to get their act into gear, their structure
right, the infrastructure in place and moving out amongst the people so
they can be aware of how Parliament operates and how you get rewards for
your people."
Maori Party loss "embarrassing"
Labour
Party leader David Shearer said the Maori Party is "sinking and fast"
and described the party's drop from second to third in the result "very
embarrassing".
He blamed the result on the party's relationship with National.
"The death knell of this
result was John Key associating himself with the Maori party, endorsing
them and getting the name of their candidate wrong."
Voters would become disillusioned with the party because of that relationship, he said.
"Five
young women that I met on the street said 'the Maori Party says they're
at the table, but they're nowhere near the table – they're getting the
crumbs off the table.'"
He believed the Greens
would not be a threat in the Maori seats and the Maori Party would
"disappear" meaning Labour would "have a much clearer run".
Mr
Shearer said the party would contest the Maori seats "really heavily"
and was confident it would win two more of the Maori seats "if not, the
whole lot".
Labour's win in the by-election was never in doubt, he said.
"I
think we always knew that we would win, but we didn't want to be too
cocky about it. We wanted to get out on the street and work hard and
make it a good win.
"When you look at what we’ve
done here is we've taken someone who four weeks ago was unknown to
anyone and has taken her through to get a result that was as good as
Parekura [Horomia]'s result in 2008."
Meanwhile Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said the result should worry Mr Key.
"He
is seeing his support parties across the board start to flail […] that
does pose real difficulties for John Key at the next election. So I
think we're looking very seriously at a progressive government after the
next election and the Green Party wants to be part of that."
The Greens' candidate Marama Davidson was not far behind the Maori Party and managed to garner 1188 votes.
It was the first time the Green Party had campaigned for the seat and Ms Turei said she was happy with the result.
Maori Party result not good for National either
Political commentator Colin James said the result wasn't good for the National Party either.
"The Maori Party is the National Party's proxy in this election and in the Maori electorates generally."
Mr James said the problem with the Maori Party is that it is seen as being "shacked up" with National.
The
beginning of the end for the Maori Party began after the 2011 general
election when they lost a seat and also the split with Mana leader Hone
Harawira, he said.
"This Maori Party has lost its connection with the socio-economic interest of its electors."
He said Mana was more on the left than the Maori Party is seen to be now.
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