Maori Leaders Suspended 21 Days After Protest Haka in NZ Parliament

New Zealand’s parliament has given the longest-ever suspensions to three Maori lawmakers. These Indigenous leaders were punished because they performed a protest haka last year during a parliamentary debate.

The Maori Party co-leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, were banned from parliament for 21 days. This is the longest suspension ever given in New Zealand’s history. Another Maori Party member, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who is the youngest current member of parliament at 22 years old, was suspended for seven days.

The suspension happened because of a haka that the three performed during a vote in November on a law called the Treaty Principles Bill. This bill tried to change the rules about an important agreement between Maori people and the New Zealand government.

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On Thursday, as a protest against the suspension, Waititi held up a noose while speaking in parliament. He reminded everyone about one of their ancestors who was wrongly hanged in prison. He said the way they are being silenced now is like the past silencing of Maori people. He added that they will not be quiet or ignored.

A haka is a traditional Maori dance. It is often used as a war dance or to challenge authority.

New Zealand’s foreign affairs minister, Winston Peters, who is also Maori, criticized Waititi for his full-face tattoo and called the Maori Party extremists. Peters said many people in New Zealand are tired of their protests.

The whole event started when Maipi-Clarke tore up the Treaty Principles Bill during a session in parliament. She then began performing a protest haka. Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer joined her, chanting the Ka Mate haka, a famous Maori war dance often performed by New Zealand’s national rugby team.

Ngarewa-Packer was also accused of making a gun gesture with her fingers toward David Seymour, the leader of a right-wing political party who supported the bill.

The three lawmakers were called before a powerful parliamentary committee but chose not to attend the hearing. The committee’s decision to suspend them was supported by New Zealand’s three main government parties.

Maipi-Clarke said that Maori people will not be silenced, pointing out that other MPs who broke rules were not punished as harshly. She said they only get punished severely when standing up for the country’s important founding document.

The Treaty Principles Bill aimed to change how New Zealand’s founding agreement, signed in 1840 between Maori chiefs and British leaders, was understood. Many people opposed the bill because they believed it would reduce the special rights given to the Maori population, which numbers about 900,000.

In the end, the parliament rejected the bill by a large majority in April.