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A new Green Party MP attracted a wave of xenophobic abuse online and a petition to expel him in his first week after he ridiculed the notion of pledging allegiance to the Queen.
New MPs are required to take an oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II, a practice many MPs have complained about over the years.
LAWRENCE SMITH / Things
Ricardo Menéndez March has not even been sworn in as a deputy yet, but he has already seen a petition calling for his removal from Parliament.
But the new MP to the Green Party’s roster, Ricardo Menéndez March, has received a more backlash and widespread than previous MPs, with his name trending briefly on New Zealand’s Twitter last week and a petition to remove him. of Parliament after he tweeted a meme about the oath. .
“[My face when] They show me an affirmation of loyalty to the Queen, ”Menendez March tweeted about a photo of a distrustful Chihuahua.
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Menéndez March suspected that the big reaction had a lot to do with him being gay and a Mexican migrant to New Zealand.
Many of the tweets certainly focused on the inheritance and immigration status of Menéndez March.
One said it was a good image choice, as it was a “barking Mexican puppy.”
“How much $ did you pay to enter New Zealand? I’m sure NZ can find enough dollars to get you back to Mexico, ”read another response.
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
The debating hall of Parliament.
Several suggested that Menéndez March leave New Zealand or return to his home country, Mexico.
Menéndez March said that he felt that Pākehā politicians could question the monarchy without such disgrace.
“It shows the reality of being unapologetic migrant and unapologetic queer. As long as we express these views without apologizing for who we are, we will receive that reaction, ”said Menéndez March.
“People like John Key can have a conversation about being a republic and it is treated as a fair political conversation that we can have.”
He said it was somewhat ironic since he did not see himself as a Republican.
“I was increasing a level of discomfort by the colonial nature of Parliament. I know I am not the first deputy to do this. “
Since the tweet, Menéndez March has continued to be a topic of discussion among right-wing groups on Twitter and Facebook, and has reached talkback radio.
ROBERT KITCHEN / THINGS / Things
Ricardo Menéndez March, right, with the other two new Green deputies, Teanau Tuiono and Elizabeth Kerekere.
“I don’t understand why some random guy from Tijuana moves from a third world hole to a civilized first world country and then shits like a slum in Tijuana,” one user tweeted about him.
Cairo Mitchell-Acason initiated a petition for Menéndez March to be removed from Parliament, which collected 832 signatures.
The author of the petition complained about Menéndez March’s tweet about the oath, but also about an earlier comment he had made that there were “a lot of white men” on the walls of Parliament, which also sparked a backlash online.
“In a matter of a couple of days, Ricardo Menéndez has shown himself in an unacceptable way for someone who is going to represent us in the 53rd Parliament of New Zealand, he has come to this country and violated his loyalty to the Queen that he was asked to said when he became a citizen and therefore should not be eligible to assume / continue in office, as when he swears allegiance to the Queen again upon taking office, we know it will be resourceful. [sic]”Says the petition.
Comments on the petition suggested that only New Zealand-born people should be admitted to Parliament, that Menéndez March was a racist, and that he was a Marxist.
Menéndez March said his comment on white men in Parliament was “a factual observation that also recognizes that Parliament has historically dispossessed indigenous and migrant communities.”
“I would invite people who were uncomfortable with the comment to reflect on why. Some of my best friends who have supported me in my political journey are white men, ”said Menéndez March.
Menéndez March worked as an anti-poverty activist with Auckland Action Against Poverty before coming to Parliament.
“If people want to call me a Marxist because I raise the problem that some people own a lot of houses at the expense of our homeless community and employers don’t pay fair wages, so be it,” said Menéndez March.
He said that Marx had a “useful way of looking at the world” and that he had no problem in being described as such.
“I’m more focused on making the mahi.”
Menéndez March said he hoped to live up to a long Green Party tradition of being a transgressor in Parliament, and that some discomfort would be natural if things were moved forward and done differently.
