Mana, Internet Party seal deal

Mana’s merger with the Internet Party has led to resignations and claims that it is undermining the Maori seats but Mana leader Hone Harawira is adamant it is good for Maori.

Harawira said the alliance, announced yesterday, had ‘‘overwhelming support’’ from Mana members and he believed Maori in general were behind the move. ‘‘I think what we’ve done is capture the mood of our younger people to an internet future and we wanted to make sure that we were part of that future.’’

The Internet Party would help Mana connect with young voters, who would have increased access to power, while Mana would also benefit from Internet Party founder Kim Dotcom’s considerable financial resources.

But the deal has come at a cost for Mana. Founding member and former MP Sue Bradford and two others have resigned in protest.

‘‘Sucking up to German millionaires is not my vision of the future, and as I’ve said often enough before I think it’s a big mistake,’’ Bradford said.

Mana has also been forced into a major concession, giving the second spot on the combined list to the leader of the Internet Party, who will be named tomorrow. The move makes it less likely Mana will get more than one of its own members into Parliament, though it has the third and fourth places on the list.

Maori Party leader Te Ururoa Flavell said the merger was ‘‘seriously wrong’’ and undermined the Maori seats.

‘‘I’m pretty brassed off, to be truthful . . . those seats were set up for our people, our people have come through hard times to get those seats and to utilise them. To bring somebody in who is questionable about their knowledge about things Maori and indeed Te Tai Tokerau is a bit of a slap in the face for Maori voters.’’

Maori had worked hard to get the seats, which some people wanted abolished, and using them to ‘‘drag in’’ a party which had demonstrated little ambition for Maori and understanding of Maoridom cheapened them.

Internet Party chief executive Vikram Kumar, whose party will provide the bulk of the funding, said the alliance gave voters a credible choice.