Te Pāti Maori Party, recently became known
around the world for protesting in the New Zealand parliament by performing the traditional haka dance of the Maori community. She was joined by two other Maori MPs in the protest. This time, all three MPs have been suspended. Al Jazeera reports.
The BBC reported on Thursday that opposition Te Pāti Māori Party MP Hana Maipi Clarke has been suspended for seven days, while the party's two co-leaders, Raoiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, have been banned from parliamentary business for 21 days.
Three members of the opposition party
in New Zealand's parliament broke into a haka when asked whether they supported a controversial bill to reinterpret the 1840 treaty between the British Crown and the Maori people. The bill, called the Treaty Principles, was eventually scrapped. The bill sparked widespread anger across the country, with more than 40,000 people protesting outside parliament last November.
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said,
"We are being punished for being Maori. We put the demands and expectations of our people first."
Meanwhile, the suspension of three MPs sparked heated debate in parliament. Foreign Minister Winston Peters was asked to apologise for calling the Te Pāti Māori Party an "extremist party". And the youngest and most controversial MP to be suspended, Maipi Clark, said with emotion, "Are our voices so loud that we are being punished?"
