Te Pāti Māori says it will not enter into any battle that drives wedges between its people and movements in a statement that followed allegations its leadership is a dictatorship model and is toxic.
A leader of the Toitu Te Tiriti movement, Eru Kapa-Kingi delivered the scathing assessment of Te Pāti Māori's inner workings in an interview where he announced the movement was severing its ties with the political party.
Kapa-Kingi, who led the Toitu Te Tiriti hikoi last year, accused the party of operating with no tikanga, saying the movement is for the people, owned by the people and not political parties.
The hikoi was the largest ever seen in Aotearoa, with tens of thousands of New Zealanders from all walks of life joining in to protest the coalition's policies which many said diminished the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Eru Kapa-Kingi speaks to Mihingarangi Forbes.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
