Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A political scientist says it's too early to say how internal ructions in Te Pāti Māori could impact the party's fortunes in the election.
But a former co-leader said if the party held the balance of power next year, potential coalition partners would come knocking no matter what, so it needs to take stock and have a clear vision.
Dr Lara Greaves said questions remained unanswered, like whether there would be a splinter party, whether someone would resign, or whether Te Pāti Māori would invoke the party-hopping legislation.
Meanwhile, Te Ururoa Flavell said supporters of the party would be disappointed "laundry is being aired publicly" and it would have been easier if everyone came together earlier to sort things out.
It comes after an explosive email was sent out to party membership on Monday night accusing one of its MPs - Mariameno Kapa-Kingi - of "major overspending issues" and her son Eru of verbally abusing Parliamentary security.
The email followed allegations levelled at the party by Eru Kapa-Kingi of a dictatorial leadership style, as he announced Toitū te Tiriti would distance itself from Te Pāti Māori.
Eru Kapa-Kingi. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Coalition government members weighed in, with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon saying the party wasn't a "serious outfit" and Finance Minister Nicola Willlis saying she'd always known Te Pāti Māori was a mess, "now New Zealanders get to see it".
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins also took a dig, saying it wasn't clear "how many Māori parties there are at the moment", and Labour would set out who it could work with before next year's election.
But Greaves told RNZ a lot could still happen between now and the election, "I don't think the story is over."
She said there were a range of questions that remain unanswered, and it's unrealistic for Labour to rule out working with Te Pāti Māori given it didn't have a lot of other options.
"They're going to need to figure out how they can work with Te Pāti Māori, but keep enough distance from them ultimately. So that's going to be a really hard balance for them."
Dr Lara Greaves. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Greaves acknowledged many political parties went through "internal issues" particularly when they've gotten more MPs. What the party needed to do now was ensure no one spoke to the media anymore, "keeping it in house, keeping it quiet" and ensure there wasn't "anything else coming out".
"Get the current situation under control and then figure out what that process could look like for the party in terms of reconciling or being able to work together.
"But the first thing they need to do is not have the story bleed further."
Flavell told RNZ he was disappointed at the news about the email, though acknowledged it was "inevitable" there would be a "bite back" to the allegations made a few weeks ago about the party's leadership.
"Understandably, when you shake a tree a bit, there's going to be some fruit that falls out.
"For better or for worse, the current leadership have rebutted in a form that they believe is right to address those original accusations. It's sad, but it's inevitable, and now it's all out there."
He said the party now needed to consolidate for the benefit "of our people and the betterment of the party moving forward".
Te Ururoa Flavell. Photo: Aotearoa Media Collective
Flavell believed Māori were looking for "cohesion", a "direction" and "some leadership".
"At this point in time, on the face of it, you'd say that we're not quite seeing that."
He acknowledged the past month had "done some damage" but "internal battles" were not unique to Te Pāti Māori.
"Labour's been there, National's been there, everybody's been there. So it's a little bit rich to be criticising the Māori Party with respect to having internal debates."
At the end of the day, he said, if Te Pāti Māori held the balance of power next year - potential coalition partners would come knocking no matter what.
"Which is why it's so important that the Māori Party consolidates again and looks to the future, because that's what our people are after - for some gains to be made in any way they can do that.
He believed the Māori Party could play an important role if it had "clear vision" and it was allowed to be part of a government "that had some real change for our people and for the nation".
"We had our splits in our time," said Flavell, "Everybody can come back."
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