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Ardern still to hear from Sharma

Glenn McConnell

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she still hasn’t heard from rogue MP Gaurav Sharma, after he decided not to attend Labour’s caucus meeting called to determine his place in the party.

Ardern announced the outcome of the meeting on Tuesday, confirming that Sharma had been suspended from the Labour caucus. She said it was a ‘‘unanimous’’ decision of all those who attended the meeting.

Sharma said he didn’t attend because he thought the outcome had been ‘‘predetermined’’, after he discovered the rest of the Labour caucus was invited to a late night meeting on Monday.

He said that meeting meant there was no way he could get a fair hearing at caucus, and so he chose not to engage with the process. Ardern insisted there was no ‘‘pre-determined’’ outcome of Tuesday’s meeting, and defended Monday’s secret meeting.

She said there were topics MPs did not feel comfortable discussing in front of Sharma, as he had lost their ‘‘trust’’ by sharing information and messages they deemed to be private.

Tuesday’s special meeting to discuss Sharma’s fate in Labour came after the Hamilton West MP levelled bullying allegations against senior Labour MPs and said the Parliamentary Service was complicit in it.

Last week, he levelled extraordinary allegations against a myriad of figures from the party and the Parliamentary Service, accusing them of bullying.

Ardern said she and others in the party continually tried to contact Sharma on Tuesday, while the meeting was ongoing. Afterwards, she said she and her office tried contacting him to tell him caucus’ decision to suspend him – but he did not respond. Sharma said on Tuesday evening that he would not be commenting on his suspension yet. He said he was waiting for ‘‘the right time’’ to say more.

As the party faces concerns about bullying in Parliament, Ardern said she had ‘‘made it clear’’ to all her MPs that they could contact her directly if they also had concerns.

She said the party had tried to offer support this week, to Sharma as well. ‘‘We certainly have made every effort to make sure that there is support,’’ she said.

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en-nz

2022-08-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281526524843658

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