Interim Ngatangiia Demo Committee seeks fair process for nomination of candidate

Many Ngatangiia Democratic Party supporters want to see a fair and transparent process used in another nomination of a candidate for the constituency, as they believe the manner in which sitting member Sir Terepai Maoate was nominated was unfair.
It has been viewed by those supporters as a deliberate attempt to hijack the process and remove the chances of the other interested candidates to put forward their names.
The recent contradicting announcements by Sir Terepai are very confusing, one day he’s saying he would be happy to have a run-off and next he is denying those comments, says Iaveta Short who has put his name forward as a candidate. Two others, Mann Short and Stephen Peyroux, both successful businessmen, have also stepped forward to be considered Democratic candidates.
“We represent many supporters who are unhappy and are asking Sir Terepai and his committee to realize how important it is to resolve this matter in the best interests of democracy,” said Short. The decision for fresh candidate elections was made at a meeting last week, when Demo supporters discussed the way forward to the general elections after a letter to the party’s Ngatangiia committee requesting a fair candidate run-off was rejected. Peyroux was chosen as interim chairman to oversee a proper election of a candidate for the Ngatangiia constituency after a unanimous decision was made to proceed.
“A decision was made to go ahead and we will not be held back,” said Peyroux.
“That meeting reflected the general unhappiness of many Democratic Party supporters in Ngatangiia with the announcement that Sir Terepai will again be the candidate. There were strong feelings that Sir Terepai’s selection was not open and fair for many reasons.”
These were outlined by the interim committee in a press statement. The statement noted that the meeting in May this year for the selection of Sir Terepai as candidate was not publicly advertised and some who attended were not aware that the plan was to confirm the former deputy prime minister as the candidate.
“Simply put, those who wanted to be considered as candidates were ambushed and had no chance of putting their name forward as Sir Terepai’s nomination was a foregone conclusion. It was not transparent,” said Mann Short. “I had wanted to put forward my name, but was not able to do so because it was clear that it was Sir Terepai’s supporters at the meeting and a decision had already been made. I know that Stephen Peyroux who was there also felt the same, and Iaveta did not even know the meeting was being held. This was totally undemocratic.”
Iaveta Short also explained that no time was taken between the nomination and election of candidate which is the normal process hence the May meeting was highly irregular. Furthermore, the meeting was informed by a Ngatangiia Demo committee member that the election was not being done properly, but he was ignored.
“In other words they knew that the process they adopted was wrong but they ignored the advice and went ahead knowing that what they were doing was wrong,” said Short.
“This cannot be allowed to happen.”
He added that it was pointed out at last week’s meeting that prior to the 2006 election other candidates withdrew their nominations on the promise by Sir Terepai and the agreement of his Demo committee that the 2006 election was to be Sir Terepai’s last term in Parliament. Sir Terepai gave a clear undertaking in 2006 that he would not be seeking another term. “Sir Terepai knows this, his committee knows this…we were all there.”
Short added those same candidates who withdrew their names are now calling on Sir Terepai and the committee to honor their promises, “it’s the right thing to do.”
“Many supporters are of the view that Sir Terepai has been MP for Ngatangiia for 25 years and that is quarter of a century and many believe that he should honor his 2006 promise and step down.”
Another meeting on Thursday last week with Sir Terepai’s committee failed to reach an agreement as they continue to refuse to acknowledge their nomination process was wrong and will not consider a run-off, explained Short. “This position is unacceptable, there needs to be a run-off amongst candidates and his committee need to accept that they have been wrong and to do it right interests of democracy.”
The people of Ngatangiia are asked to attend a public meeting at 7pm on Wednesday 18th August at the village club-house in Muri. It is expected that the run-off for Demo candidates will be held on Monday 23rd August. – Interim Committee

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