Following an interview last night where Sharma accused the prime minister of being complicit in a cover up, Sharma has doubled down and accused the prime minister of lying this morning, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in The Bulletin.
Sharma breaks silence
“A week is a long time in politics” is attributed to British prime minister Harold Wilson. Wilson is said to have made that quip in the mid 60s, when the world wide web was a mere twinkle in Tim Berners-Lee’s eye. A week and two hours after Gaurav Sharma’s online op-ed in the NZ Herald alleging bullying in parliament, he sat down with Newshub’s Jenna Lynch for 36-minte long conversation last night. Following the caucus meeting on Tuesday where he was suspended from caucus, he broke his silence and unloaded several more rounds of ammunition aimed at the Labour party.
Sharma accuses prime minister of lying this morning
Last night Sharma told Newshub that the decision to suspend him from caucus had been made at the meeting on Monday night, the night before the scheduled caucus meeting on Tuesday. “It’s a kangaroo court, it’s a banana republic,” he said. Speaking to RNZ’s Morning Report this morning Sharma said “This is about the credibility of a nation’s prime minister, who every step of the way has been lying.” Ardern has stressed the decision to suspend Sharma from the Labour caucus was not predetermined. The caucus will vote next Tuesday on a motion to expel Sharma. Politik’s Richard Harman writes (paywalled) the result of next Tuesday’s meeting is a forgone conclusion given the unanimous vote to suspend Sharma on Wednesday.
McAnulty rejects any allegations of bullying
Kieran McAnulty also spoke to Morning Report this morning and rejected any allegations that he was a bully towards anyone. He said the Whips’ office kept meticulous records and the question of whether there should be an inquiry into the matters raised by Sharma is a call for the prime minister to make. McAnulty also refuted Sharma’s allegation that the decision around his future was predetermined at the meeting on Monday night, ahead of the caucus meeting on Tuesday, although he did say the mood of the room was clear.
Four days is a long time in politics
As Toby Manhire writes this morning, it’s inconceivable that the caucus or the leadership will do or say nothing between now and Tuesday. Four days is a long time in politics, especially after someone has accused the prime minister of lying and made defamatory claims about a minister and others. That just can’t hang in the air. Sharma was speaking to Tova O’Brien’s on Today FM as I was hitting publish this morning. By the time many of you read this, it will have aired. I am also on Today FM later this morning and multi-tasked publishing this, sending the Bulletin to subscribers and listening to the interview in case the measure of what a “long time in politics” is contracts to mere minutes.