Greens sell their soul for power

The Green Party’s decision to vote for electoral law changes against their core values of democracy and human rights is a tragic day for the Party, MMP and Parliament, National’s Electoral Law spokesperson Dr Nick Smith says.

“The Greens are selling their soul for power by voting for Winston Peters’ Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill which contradicts the Greens’ core values.

“Founding Green Party member and former co-leader Rod Donald described in 2001 a near identical bill as the ‘most draconian, obnoxious, anti-democratic, insulting piece of legislation ever inflicted on this parliament’. Today the Greens have decided that doesn’t matter.

“The New Zealand Greens cannot champion human rights abroad and then vote against them at home. It is extraordinary that they are voting for a bill that breaches the Bill of Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“This is a black day in the history of New Zealand’s parliamentary democracy. It has long been accepted that significant electoral and constitutional law changes should only be made with wide cross party support. Yet these changes are being made against the majority view in Parliament, with both National and the Greens opposed to the provisions – but with the Greens voting for them anyway.

“The free mandate of MPs is internationally recognised as fundamental to a parliamentary democracy. There are only a few countries with the draconian power for party leaders to dismiss MPs, including Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sierra Leone.

“The fact that constitutional protections in most other parts of the world would make such a change illegal begs the question of why we’re allowing it here.

“This Bill is a cynical power grab by Winston Peters to prop up this fragile Government. It will be forever a deep scar on the Green Party’s reputation that they surrendered their core values for democracy and human rights by supporting the passage of this Bill.”

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