Haere ra Pita

Maori Affairs Minister and Maori Party co-leader Dr Pita Sharples is quitting politics; the Herald reports:

Pita Sharples will today announce his resignation as Maori Party co-leader and will quit politics next year.
Dr Sharples said last night it is clear the party's leadership issues are taking too much of a toll on it and have to be resolved.
He said he planned to stay on as a minister and Tamaki Makaurau MP until the 2014 election. He would not run for Parliament next year.
"Our people deserve a unified Maori Party. I would have liked to have provided stability after Tariana [Turia] left. However, no individual is bigger than the party. So, for the purposes of unity, I have decided to resign."
The 71-year-old will stay as co-leader until the party elects a new leader, which he expected to happen at the AGM in Whakatane in a fortnight. The new co-leader is almost certain to be MP Te Ururoa Flavell.

The pressure has been mounting on Dr Sharples for some months, and last weekend's Ikaroa-Rawhiti by-election result may have been the final straw for the Maori Party's kaumatua. At 71 years old, he is not getting any younger, and Ikaroa-Rawhiti may have convinced him that he is no longer up to the rigours of an election campaign.

We applauded the appointment of Dr Sharples and Tariana Turia to the Ministry in 2008. Nothing that has happened in the intervening years changes that. Dr Sharples has brought great mana to the role of Minister of Maori Affairs, and in conjunction with Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson has overseen the settlement of a number of difficult historic grievances. For that alone he deserves credit.

And the Maori Party has done more for Maori by way of an unpopular liaison withe the John Key-led Government than it could ever have achieved in opposition. That is an inarguable fact. For that Pita Sharples and his follow 2014 retiree Tariana Turia deserve credit for putting the aspirations of Maori ahead of the political longevity of their party.

Te Ururoa Flavell has a tough job to rebuild the Maori Party, but we're sure that the party's kaumatua and kuia will support him behind the scenes. Division kills political parties (take note Labour), and the Maori Party now has the opportunity to put an acrimonious start to the year behind it, park all the raruraru, and move forward for the betterment of their people. If that happens, Dr Sharples and Mrs Turia will have left a legacy to be proud of.