It had to happen...

When news of the Pakeha Party first became a talking point last week, we had a random thought. In hindsight, perhaps it wasn't that random after all, because The Civilian had the same thought; check this out:

In a bloodless leadership coup, former National and ACT Party leader Dr. Don Brash has seized control of the Pakeha Party from its founder, David Ruck.
Ruck, who was leader of the party until 12:30pm this afternoon, was forced to abdicate the role after Brash, who had joined the party only this morning, was able to demonstrate that he had the support of the majority of the users on its Facebook page.
Since last week, Ruck has been in private talks with Dr. Brash about plans to transition the Pakeha Party from a fledgling Facebook page into a mainstream political entity, but those talks reportedly broke down when Ruck felt uneasy about having Brash as the party’s leader.
Ruck said his lines of communication with Brash went dead after Friday last week, but that he didn’t begin to suspect anything until early this morning, when he found himself unable to log in to administrate the party’s Facebook page.
“So I logged into my Facebook like I normally do, but I couldn’t get onto the Pakeha Party,” he said. “I just wanted to post some shit about how we’re going make this country less racist, but it wouldn’t let me.
“So I called up [co-founder] Ashley [Saergant], and I said ‘Yo, Ash, I can’t get into the Facebook page.’ And that’s when he told me he was supporting Dr. Brash.”
Both Ruck and Brash appeared together this afternoon at a hastily arranged press conference to announce the leadership change.
“I can confirm that, as of 12:30pm this afternoon, and with the support of a majority of those I asked, I have assumed the leadership of the Pakeha Party,” said Brash, reading from pre-prepared notes. “I have said to David, as I will say to you, that the Pakeha Party is a noble movement that has brought to the forefront of our politics a discussion that, until now, was only engaged in behind closed doors.
“It is my aim, as I steward this party into next year’s election, to help usher in a new era of full equality and non-racism.”

This is more great stuff from The Civilian. But beneath the satire, might there also be a grain of truth to the suggestion? If so, it would most certainly be the death of the Pakeha Party.

Don Brash lost the 2005 election to Labour, an election that National was supposed to have won. Then he took over the leadership of the Act Party in 2011, predicting that Act would get 15% of the party vote. History will show that Dr Brash was  only 13.93% astray in his prediction!

We are pretty cynical about the Pakeha Party. Already, the website and Facebook administrator rights have been offered for sale to another similar group, and yesterday the Pakeha Party was touting for donations. We have a sneaking suspicion that the Pakeha Party is more about making money for its "founder", than becoming a serious political player.