Three Māori deputies suspended after the protest with Haka in Parliament: “intimidating behavior”

In New Zealand a political and cultural controversy has been turned on after Three deputies of the party Te Pāti Māori they were suspended by Parliament for having performed anHaka of protest during an official session. The gesture, full of meaning for the Māori people, was interpreted by some as a act of intimidation towards other parliamentarians.

Everything happened during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Billa strongly criticized bill that aimed at redefine the principles of the Waitangi Treatythe founding document of New Zealand, signed in 1840 between leaders Māori and the British crown. This bill, supported by the ACT libertarian party, raised a wave of popular indignation, bringing over 40,000 people to show in front of Parliament and triggering a national march that lasted nine days.

During the parliamentary discussion, the deputy Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clerke He started the Haka, followed by the party co-leaders, Rawiri Waititi And Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. Maipi-Clarke also has Torn a copy of the bill As a sign of protest. The gesture, filmed and shared on the net, quickly went around the world.

The accusations of colonialism

There parliamentary commission He then recommended the suspension of Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi for three weeks and Maipi-Clarke for one weekconsidering the action one severe violation of the regulation and “intimidating” behavior. It is the harder sanction ever proposed in the history of the New Zealand Parliament.

The party Tei Pāti Māori condemned the decision, defining it a political and symbolic attack under the voice of “Tangata Whenua“, That is the” people of the earth “. According to them, it is a clear signal to force the māori representatives to “Align” to the system.

The Verdi leader judged the sanctions “disproportionate“, While the Labor Party expressed doubts about the extent of the sentence, while recognizing the infringement. The government, on the other hand, spoke of”out of control behavior“. An episode that raised a heated national debate on cultural identity, political representation and freedom of expression within the institutions.