The Indian Weekender Friday, 23 October 2020

4 NEW ZEALAND
Friday, October 23, 2020 The Indian Weekender
ELECTION OF FIR
electorate MP ma
SANDEEP SINGH FOR RNZ
rising political aspirations then the Kiwi-Indian
community has been left poorer after this
Like the rest of the nation, the Kiwi-
election.
Indian community is left stunned by
For at least the last three terms, the Kiwithe
dramatic electoral verdict that many
Indian community sent three co-ethnic MPs in
experts believe may have the potential to alter
the Parliament, via different political parties.
the future trajectory of New Zealand politics.
In 2017 the National Party had two Kiwi-
In the absence of any scientific poll or survey,
Indian MPs, Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Dr
there is always a challenge of accurately
Parmjeet Parmar, both based in Auckland,
assessing how the voting patterns within the
while the Labour Party had one Kiwi-Indian
community would have changed, if at all,
MP, Priyanca Radhakrishnan.
during this election.
In 2014, along with the two National MPs,
However, many in the community would
New Zealand First was able to bring a Kiwihave
voted to reward Prime Minister Jacinda
Indian MP into Parliament, perhaps setting an
Ardern’s stellar leadership in managing
expectation within the community that three
Covid-19 and keeping New Zealand safe - at
might be the new normal when it comes to
least for now.
having representation.
that has been instrumental in swinging many than dramatic. Immigration woes, particularly
The majority of the Kiwi-Indian voters
This election has only returned two Kiwiundecided
voters one way or the other.
those emanating from an absence of political
would not fall into the category of the so-called
Indian MPs - Radhakrishnan and the first-time
The personal popularity of Sir John Key decisiveness and clarity on the policy, and
“tactical voters” who, according to recent
Labour MP from Hamilton West, Dr Gaurav
was instrumental in swinging the community’s operational bungles, directly impact on the
commentators, are pointing out that some chose
Sharma.
votes towards the National Party away from real lives and futures of people within ethnic
to shift their votes tactically to the Labour Party,
Bakshi, who was the first India-born MP
the Labour Party, and it seems Ardern has migrant communities and can often influence
to deny the Green Party a stronger position in
of the NZ Parliament, along with Parmar,
decisively swung back those undecided voters votes of others within the community.
the new government.
who were both List MPs, are not returning to
within the Kiwi-Indian community towards In that regard, the latest election results
The Kiwi-Indian community clearly were not
Parliament post-election.
Labour in this election.
also have another stunning, if not dramatic,
facing any such dilemma, and their relationship Given the community has faced some significance for the Kiwi-Indian community.
Another stunning outcome is the election
with the Green Party remains - despite some
of the first-ever electorate Kiwi-Indian MP in
pressing issues in the last term - particularly Mixed bag of results for Kiwigrowing
interest in green politics in recent
Parliament - an outcome for which apparently
the immigration mess, where there was a
years - at best supremely indifferent.
Indian community
many within the community have been secretly
noticeable outrage because of a perceived
Traditionally, it has always been the
If the number of total co-ethnic MPs in hoping for many years. Sharma stormed home
sense of systemic bias on partnership visa
popularity and the charisma of party leaders
Parliament was any measure of a community’s on election night in Hamilton West.
woes and Indian marriages - this is nothing less
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