Crunch time for Te Tai Tokerau
Willie Jackson's Opinion
Friday 24th June, 2011
OPINION: If ever there was an example of what sort of threat Hone Harawira poses, it came when I was interviewing the prime minister.
When quizzed about who would win the Te Tai Tokerau by-election, John Key was clear Labour's Kelvin Davis was his response.
While most people would think that this was no big deal, those of us who are politicos knew exactly what Key was doing.
Key's no fool and to ensure that he has a clear run for a second term in government he knows he has to wipe out any potential problems.
In 2008 he got rid of Winston Peters when he cancelled him out of coalition arrangements.
If Harawira wins his seat at the general election there's a chance that he could take four of his Mana MPs into Parliament and if it's a tight race on election night it's conceivable that Harawira could decide who will be government.
Now that's a risk that John Key is not prepared to take.
That's why he's given a clear signal to the conservative vote to support Kelvin Davis in this weekend's by-election.
Key has two unlikely allies former Labour MP Dover Samuels and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.
Samuels said Davis would be targeting National voters who had no one to vote for and Peters predicted a Davis victory and at the same time virtually directed his members to vote for Labour's man.
Their actions are a reminder that the old phrase "My enemy's enemy is my friend" is most appropriate when describing how the forces are moving against Harawira.
In fact it seems at times the whole world is against Hone Harawira.
Never have I seen anything like this. Although in 2008 Peters faced a media that was hell-bent on taking him out, he still had the benefit of a sympathetic Labour Party and public to fall back on.
Harawira has none of that.
He has National, Labour, NZ First and the Maori Party all collaborating and working against him.
Add to this mainstream media's opposition to him, in particular the New Zealand Herald which wrote three editorials against him over four weeks, and the opposition to him from the general public who have been poisoned by the media's bias and racism. With all that, Harawira's chances of winning might seem impossible but that's not the case.
He has every chance of winning. This weekend we will either see the end of Hone's political career or the beginning of an exciting new movement in New Zealand politics.
* in the Te Tai Tokerau by-election are: Kelvyn Alp, Our NZ Party; Kelvin Davis, Labour Party; Hone Harawira, Mana; Maki Herbert, Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party; Solomon Tipene, Maori Party.
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