Maori Party could be torn apart

Did the Maori Party's MPs know just how much they were biting off when they decided to take on Hone Harawira?

Maybe not, because the strife now surrounding the party has the potential to tear it apart.

They could have ignored the article Harawira wrote, which didn't contain much that was new anyway.

It was a ritual rant about the Marine and Coastal Area Bill and his opinions about the party's relationship with National, which he hasn't been happy about for a long time.

But they must have thought enough was enough, and it was time to do something about him.

So the formal complaint was laid in the name of party whip Te Ururoa Flavell, backed by co-leaders Pita Sharples and Tariana Turia, and its other MP Rahui Katene.

Just what they hoped to achieve isn't clear. Did they think they could pull him into line and order him not to say anything about government policies he opposes? Did they think they could close down his criticism of the legislation that is going to replace the Foreshore and Seabed Act, which the party has to continue supporting?

That isn't the way Harawira plays the game.

He won't fall into line and he won't shut up. He believes he has right on his side and that he is voicing opinions held by the majority of Maori Party members.

If he is, and there has been very little said against him from the rank and file, then Sharples and Turia have a very serious problem.

If the disciplinary committee which starts work on the complaint this week recommends censure there will almost certainly be a backlash.

If it recommends his expulsion from the party, the impact could be catastrophic.

The final decision will be up to the national council, which faces extremely difficult decisions.

Harawira's fiercely loyal electorate committee would almost certainly split from the party if any serious action is taken against him, and the MP has very strong support within Te Tai Tokerau.

The pressure would spread to other electorates, and through the party membership itself, while Sharples and Turia could face a vote of no confidence.

That is a worst-case scenario, but it is difficult to see a better outcome.

This situation is partly the familiar problem small parties have when they sign coalition or support agreements with Labour or National.

To get some of the things they want, they have to go along with most of the Government's agenda.

The Maori Party has had significant achievements, including the new Whanau Ora welfare system and the prison rehabilitation schemes that Turia and Sharples have worked on.

The constitutional review is held up by Sharples as a "huge" development, and the party's agreement over the foreshore and seabed means the present Act will be repealed.

Sharples and Turia live in the real world of parliamentary politics.

Harawira doesn't, but his strident criticism and demands tend to eclipse what has been achieved through co-operation with National.

What he wants can't be achieved, and the others know it.

He says, for example, that Maori should have automatic right of title over the foreshore and seabed. If any government agreed to that it would be gone by lunchtime, if not before breakfast.

He seems to want the Maori Party to scrap its support agreement. He says it should be prepared to work with Labour and the Greens as well as with National.

What he apparently means is that it should do its own thing, without being part of government.

If that happened, its "own thing" would be making speeches in Parliament, when its MPs got the chance, holding rallies in protest against legislation it didn't agree with and generally being a fringe nuisance factor.

It would have no influence at all over any government legislation and it wouldn't be able to initiate any of its own.

Harawira's assertions that he doesn't want to lead the party seem genuine. He says he doesn't have the right abilities to be a party leader, which could be seen as an understatement.

He is a radical and passionate protest politician, and he doesn't fit in with a caucus that works with the Government.

Harawira believes his caucus colleagues want to get rid of him, and that is why they have engaged constitutional law expert Mai Chen.

Perhaps they do, but the risks and the price are very high.