By Willie Jackson
Well, the battle lines have been drawn and the Maori Party and Hone Harawira's new party Mana are set to go to war.
Over the years I've been a big supporter of the Maori Party and Hone Harawira so it's not a battle that I wanted to see. When the Maori Party and Hone parted company both agreed that in return for the Maori Party not standing anyone in the Te Tai Tokerau seat, Hone wouldn't stand candidates in other electorates.
This makes perfect sense especially since both parties want to keep the Labour Party out, but according to the Maori Party the deal doesn't apply to byelections. So now all bets are off and they're now going to take their chance at getting rid of Hone.
According to Pita Sharples they're going to win, which is optimistic given that he has no idea who their candidate will be. Since becoming the MP for Te Taitokerau in 2005, Hone has made a huge impact with his constituents so the Maori Party faces a mammoth task in trying to unseat him.
Hone has consistently stated that his foremost priority are his people in the North whose interests he's put ahead of his former Maori Party's.
Although that stance has brought him considerable criticism, Hone is unrepentant. He reminds his critics that it was Te Tai Tokerau who put him in Parliament and only they will decide his political destiny. And that's exactly what's happening now with this by-election.
Last week his decision to call for a byelection was labelled a farcical publicity stunt by mainstream media and the political parties. However, this week they've had a change of heart and now the Maori and Labour parties are preparing to run in the byelection and mainstream media are champing at the bit to cover it.
The hypocrisy of the Maori Party and Labour deserves to be exposed. One minute Phil Goff and Pita Sharples are calling the byelection a sham and waste of taxpayers' money and the next minute they're participating in the process.
Obviously the chance to put an end to Hone's career was enough for both of them to put their principles from last week on hold. It looks like it could be one of the most riveting byelections in many years.
Hone Harawira's decision to hold a byelection should be applauded rather than condemned. He is putting everything on the line and it will be fascinating to see if his loyalty to his Te Taitokerau constituents will bring success for him and his new party.
Auckland Stuff.co.nz, 13th May 2011