Tākuta Ferris and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi have been expelled from Te Pāti Māori.
Co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi announced the decision this morning, with Waititi saying it was part of the party “continuing to reset [its] waka”.
Ferris hit back, saying on social media, “I reject this decision in the strongest possible terms”. He said the expulsion was “plainly unconstitutional”.
Kapa-Kingi also took to social media to say the change was “unconstitutional” and that she planned to “challenge and appeal” the decision.
The Herald has made attempts to contact both MPs.
The National Council of Te Pāti Māori held a meeting on Sunday night to decide the future of the two MPs who have been in open dispute with the party, particularly its president John Tamihere, for nearly two months.
The three options on the table at this weekend’s meeting included a warning, a suspension or expulsion from the party.
The MPs will sit in Parliament as independents for now. The party could try to use waka jumping law to expel both MPs from Parliament, triggering byelections in their electorates.
On Monday, the co-leaders said a decision had not been made on whether to use that law. Waititi said that decision would be made by the party’s National Council.
Tamihere is believed to have enough support on the National Council to have his way, although he was not present at the weekend’s meeting.
The council includes Tamihere himself, members of the executive (including his daughter Kiri Tamihere), the party co-leaders, and representatives of electorates.
Ferris said that his expulsion was supported by all electorates bar two: his own electorate abstained from voting, and Te Tai Tokerau, the electorate held by Kapa-Kingi was excluded from voting.
Minutes of a previous meeting of the council on October 23, seen by the Herald, suggest most electorate representatives are on the side of Tamihere taking action against Kapa-Kingi and Ferris.
According to the minutes of that meeting, the Te Tai Hauāuru electorate representative had it noted the party was “bleeding membership” because of negative media attention brought by Te Tai Tokerau, the northern electorate represented by Kapa-Kingi.
At that meeting, electorates were asked to vote on several resolutions, including the suspension of Kapa-Kingi, which passed with the support of all the electorates, bar Te Tai Tokerau, and Te Tai Tonga, the southern electorate represented by Ferris.
Kapa-Kingi’s own electorate representatives were unable to vote because the party successfully argued that it had “ceased to perform its duties and functions” in accordance with the party’s constitution”. The Te Tai Tonga electorate chose to abstain from voting.
Since then, it appears at least from the outside that Kapa-Kingi’s relationship with at least some factions of the party have deteriorated.
If the party sought to use the waka jumping law to expel Ferris and Kapa-Kingi from Parliament, it would need to convince the speaker that their continued presence met the test of disrupting the proportionality of Parliament. Ex-Green MP Darleen Tana’s expulsion earlier this year, suggests that test could be met.
It would also mean costly byelections in two of the country’s largest electorates. Te Tai Tokerau encompasses everything north of Auckland, and Te Tai Tonga is the country’s largest electorate by far, encompassing the entire South Island and Wellington.