New Zealand First has decided against standing candidates in Maori seats because it doesn't believe in "special treatment".
Party leader Winston Peters said yesterday there were candidates on the New Zealand First list with an understanding of the needs and aspirations of Maori.
But they wantedto compete as equals and did not want special treatment, which was a byword for "marginalisation and cinderella-isation".
They believed in one class of citizen, he said.
New Zealand First won all five Maori seats at the 1996 election but lost them last time to Labour.
The party list, released by Mr Peters yesterday, put the five existing New Zealand First MPs back in the same spots they had last time.
Jim Anderton's Progressive Coalition party also released its list of candidates yesterday.
There were no surprises in the top four: the MPs who remained loyal to Mr Anderton during his split from the Alliance were rewarded with high places.
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