A Motion condemning last month’s terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam failed to pass in New Zealand’s Parliament last week.
On April 22, terrorists gunned down 25 Indians and one Nepali civilian at the tourist spot after identifying them as Hindus – an attack Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has condemned unequivocally since then.
On May 5, ACT Party MP Parmjeet Parmar proposed a motion for the NZ Parliament to adopt that encapsulated three key points – condemn the terror attack, offer condolences to the victims, and recognise the distress it caused Indian New Zealanders.
The Green Party didn’t agree with the wording. As per rules, a motion can be adopted only if every single Member of Parliament agrees to it – meaning a single party can block a motion.
As the ACT Party tried to build a consensus on the motion before moving it in Parliament on May 6, the Green Party proposed an alternate draft that excluded any mention of either terror attack or Indian New Zealanders.
The draft it suggested read: “That this House express its deepest condolences to those who lost family and friends in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on 22 April.”
The Labour Party said ACT’s draft was too lengthy, pointing out such motions without notice must be succinct. It proposed a concise alternative that the ACT Party seemed amenable to.
Labour’s version read. “That this House condemn the terrorist attack that occurred in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on 22 April and express its deepest condolences to those who lost family and friends in this tragic event.”
The Green Party didn’t agree to that version too, indicating it would be agreeable only to the draft it had suggested. Te Pati Maori said it would go with the Green Party version.
Parmar went ahead and moved the motion in Parliament on May 6 and it was rejected on a voice vote.
Green Party musterer (whip) Ricardo Menéndez March later told The Indian Weekender ACT’s draft was not in line with a standing order that requires motions to “include only such material as may be necessary to identify the facts or matter to which the motion relates”.
“We would have been entirely supportive of a statement of that kind on the tragic Kashmir attack, consistent with the types of Motions without Notice that are regularly used in the House,” he said.
In 2019, the Green Party had supported a similar motion without notice titled, ‘Condolences—Acts of Terrorism, Sri Lanka and San Diego’ moved by the then Prime Minister Jadinda Ardern.
The motion passed on April 30, 2019, read, “I seek leave to move a motion without notice that this House condemn the Easter Sunday bomb attacks in Sri Lanka on 21 April and the shooting at a synagogue in San Diego, USA on 28 April.”
Supporting that motion, Marama Davidson – then the co-leader of The Green Party – had said, “The Green Party too absolutely stands with this House in condemning both the attack against Christians worshipping on 21 April in Sri Lanka and also those worshipping on 28 April at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in San Diego.”
She went on to say, “...I am pleased to stand here with the Green Party and with all the members of this House to once again condemn acts of terrorism against communities and religions.”
The Indian Weekender also reached out to Te Pati Maori to understand its view on the Pahalgam terror attack motion. Their spokesperson indicated they would not have blocked the ACT Party’s original motion if it were made in the House.
“Te Pāti Māori did not ask for the wording to be changed…we agreed with alternate wording provided by the Green Party as a fair compromise for cross party support,” the spokesperson said.
“We do not wish [to] politicise pain and suffering, or fuel tensions in these heightened times. We condemn all forms of violence. Our condolences with those who lost their loved ones to these senseless killings.”