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While other political dynasties fell on election night, one came back from the dead.
After a full period in the desert, it seems that the Maori Party has returned to Parliament.
Labor, in one of the few turns against its favor in the 2020 elections, appears to have lost its full set of Maori seats.
With 98 percent of the votes counted in the Waiariki headquarters, which covers the Bay of Plenty and southern Waikato, Rawiri Waititi of the Maori party was ahead by 421 votes against Tāmati Coffey of the Labor Party.
Joel Maxwell / Stuff
Rawiri Waititi, Maori Party candidate for Waiariki, at Tunohopū Marae in Rotorua.
The fierce battle came after the Maori Party failed to regain the other six Maori seats, including the defeat of John Tamihere at Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.
However, Tamihere said she had no doubts Waititi would win, which was ultimately the goal of the match.
“We achieved what we wanted to achieve: we were facing a red tidal wave, right? Our people are programmed for the Labor Party. “
Joel Maxwell / Stuff
Regular worker at Waiariki Maori Headquarters, Tāmati Coffey at Western Heights High School in Rotorua with students.
He said the message from the Maori in two hands – getting a Maori Party candidate alongside a Labor candidate on the list – had worked in Waiariki.
“We have our pou (pole) on the ground. We have someone who goes to Parliament as the liberated voice of the Maori people. “
As the recount increased overnight, the pressure was already mounting for Coffey to concede; some on social media noted that he would enter Parliament on the list anyway, at 37.
Speaking ahead of the election, Coffey said he was still facing a core of Maori Party supporters in the electorate, despite winning there in 2017.
In the run-up to the elections, Waiariki was one of several Maori seats that appeared vulnerable: Waititi was only 12 percentage points behind, which was close given the unpredictable nature of the polls.
The Maori Party was removed from the political board in 2017 and lost all of its seats. There are seven Maori electorates in the country.
