A year after taking part in a viral performance of the haka on the floor of New Zealand's House of Representatives, three Maori MPs now face lengthy suspensions. Parliament's privileges committee has recommended suspending the three members of the Te Pati Maori party for acting "in a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the House in the discharge of their duty," per the New Zealand Herald. The committee recommended 21-day suspensions for party co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi and a 7-day suspension for Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke.
All three performed the traditional dance last November as a protest during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill, which sought to reinterpret the country's founding treaty with the Maori. The bill was ultimately defeated. The committee's recommendation for punishment will be put to a House vote on Thursday and is expected to pass. "The Greens and Labour dissented from the recommendation, although Labour agreed the MPs' conduct constituted contempt," per the Herald.
Te Pati Maori calls it "the worst punishment handed down EVER in our history," exceeding a prior three-day suspension. When Indigenous people resist, "colonial powers reach for maximum penalty," the party continues, saying "this is a warning shot to all of us to fall in line." "We've never had penalties like this in this parliament before," admits committee chair Judith Collins, per ABC Australia. "But that's because we've never seen this sort of behavior in the house—before a vote." The incident shut down parliament for nearly 30 minutes, the outlet notes. (More New Zealand stories.)
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