“The Council took this decision because it found Gaurav Sharma had brought the party into disrepute,” she said.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Sharma detailed the process undertaken by the party over recent weeks, much to the disappointment of the party that enforced confidentiality requirements on such proceedings.
Sharma’s central claim alleged NZ Council members informed him the party planned to invoke waka-jumping legislation to kick him out of the party, but not until six months out from next year’s general election so as not to trigger a byelection, which traditionally costs taxpayers about $1 million.
Fearing this would leave Hamilton West constituents without a voice in Parliament for six months, Sharma resigned on Tuesday, confirming a byelection would take place.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had repeatedly denied Sharma’s claim, saying the party had not considered invoking the waka-jumping legislation.
Szabó also said yesterday she was not aware of any discussion of the legislation within the party.
In her statement this morning, Szabó outlined the timeline of Sharma’s expulsion.
She said an NZ Council investigation took place into a complaint the Labour Party received from the party’s caucus after the latter expelled Sharma from the caucus in August.
Sharma “participated actively” in the investigation, providing oral and written accounts of his perspective to the investigating panel and the wider council.
The investigation recommended Sharma be expelled from the party for “bringing the party into disrepute”.
Szabó said the council communicated with Sharma on Saturday when he reportedly requested more time to respond to the investigation because he had experienced a bereavement in his wider whānau.
The extension was agreed upon on compassionate grounds, but Szabó said the council had received no further documentation from Sharma before the extension ended yesterday.
The council agreed on Sharma’s expulsion at a meeting this morning.
Ardern was waiting on advice from the Electoral Commission before choosing a date for the byelection. Political parties would be imminently discussing whether they would contest the seat that National’s Tim Macindoe held from 2008 to 2020.
