The announcement of the People’s Party got a frosty reception from NZ First leader Winston Peters.
Peters says a move to set up a new ethnicity-based political party for Asian and Indian immigrants is a “an extraordinary demand” which will harm New Zealand.
The People’s Party has been set up and acting leader Rohan Nauhria.
He told RNZ the party would campaign on issues such as crime and was aiming to get into Parliament by focusing on the Indian and other Asian communities.
The party launch coincides with the prime minister John Key writing an open letter to ethnic media outlets in a bid to reassure ethnic communities.
In the letter he said that the Government was focused on crime after concerns about rising burglaries.
Key said he was not surprised the party had emerged given the recent focus on migration.
He doubted it would get into Parliament, based on the history of similar one-issue parties and its lack of a well-known leader.
The People’s Party plans to stand in the Mt Roskill by-election if Phil Goff is elected Mayor in the Auckland Council elections.
National’s likely candidate in the byelection will be Indian-born Parmjeet Parmar, who migrated to New Zealand in 1995.
Labour has already selected Michael Wood, who is well known in the electorate as a local board member.
Although Labour has held the seat for decades, National got more of the party vote in 2014.
Source
- nzherald.co.nz
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