The New Zealand Parliament inflicted record suspensions to three Maori deputies on Thursday who had executed a haka in the hemicycle last year to oppose a bill on the aboriginal peoples of the country.
The leaders of the Maori party, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, were excluded from Parliament for a period of 21 days, the longest suspension ever pronounced. His colleague of the same party, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, the youngest deputy in the country, was suspended for seven days.
In November, the 22 -year -old deputy, in the middle of the session, had torn a copy of the text in two and proceeded with other elected officials to a haka, a sung dance practiced by the Maori to impress their opponents and, internationally, by the National Rugby team. The images had turned the world around.
“We will not be silent”
The text, which is supposed to be discussed that day, was aimed at reinterpreting the Wauti Treaty, signed almost 200 years ago between the Maori of New Zealand and European settlers, and considered as the founding treaty of the country.
The detractors of the bill, finally rejected in April by the national representation, said that it would have had the effect of dismantling programs, in particular education, destined for Maori citizens.
“The fact that we reduce the silence today remember that that of our ancestors (…) This continues today,” Rawiri Waititi reacted for the announcement of his suspension, wielding a fluid knot -shaped rope.
“You have replaced the node that flows with legislation. Well, we will not be silent,” he added.
Suspensions backed by government coalition
Previously, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters mocked Rawiri Waititi’s traditional tattoo that completely covers his face.
“He who shouts there, with the scribbles in the face … cannot remain silent for five seconds,” said Winston Peters, himself of Maori origin. “These are extremists. And New Zealand (…) is tired of them.”
The suspensions voted and validated Thursday by Parliament were supported by the three parties of the government’s coalition. Although it is practiced on many occasions, Haka is often used as a ceremonial dance or to challenge authority.
Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke said the Maori would not be reduced to silence.
Source: BFM TV
