Petition seeks option for migrants to pledge allegiance to NZ – not just the Queen
A Kiwi-Indian migrant has launched a petition with parliament to include the option of declaring their allegiance to New Zealand, and not just with the Queen as is now, during the citizenship ceremony.
The petition is availabe here.
Ankit Parikh, a Research and Development Engineer, who has been living, studying, and working in New Zealand for almost twenty years, with six years as a citizen, has started a petition to remove the compulsion of stating allegiance to Queen, and including the additional and clearer option of taking allegiance to New Zealand.
“I am requesting the NZ government to provide people applying for citizenship with the choice to pledge allegiance to New Zealand or to the reigning Sovereign (the Queen),” Ankit said.
Indeed, this will once again stir the longstanding monarchist-republican debate – a debate that has not grown to be a full-blown political issue in New Zealand at least as of now. But the numbers supporting republicanism have been steadily growing over recent years in Australia and New Zealand.
However, Ankit is reluctant for his petition to be seen as another attempt of stirring up the ‘monarchism’ versus ‘republicanism’ debate in the country and is instead keen to present it in the context of the discomfort of colonial oppression often associated with the long British Monarchical lineage.
“I am only seeking to bring forward the expression of allegiance to New Zealand on an equal footing as an expression of allegiance to the monarch and be presented as alternative options for people to choose at the citizenship ceremony,” Ankit said.
Citizenship ceremony
The citizenship ceremony is the last step in the citizenship journey of any new migrant seeking to become a New Zealander, which requires everyone to make an oath or affirmation statement about their loyalty to New Zealand.
However, the oath or the affirmation that a new citizen has to read out loud at the citizenship ceremony is written in the manner where allegiance to the sovereign (Queen of England) precedes the commitment to the laws of New Zealand.
Ankit’s petition seeks to remove this aberration, or at least to put the option of stating allegiance to New Zealand on an equal footing as stating allegiance to the monarch.
What is the current oath/ affirmation of allegiance?
Under the current Citizenship Act, it is prescribed for a new citizen to make an oath or affirmation statement to say they are loyal to New Zealand.
The Oath in English (Te Reo option is available) reads out as, “I [say your name] swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of New Zealand, her heirs and successors according to law and that I will faithfully observe the laws of New Zealand and fulfil my duties as a New Zealand citizen. So help me God.”
It is this formal requirement imposed on new citizens to explicitly express their allegiance to the monarch (understood as synonymous to the nation and country in legal terms within a constitutional monarchy) that Ankit’s petition is seeking to amend and include an alternative choice to those who might find it uncomfortable owing to the colonial oppression subjected in the historical past.
What does this petition envisage to amend in the Oath of Allegiance?
“I feel (and believe that many migrants do as well) that it is insensitive, in this day and age, to expect new citizens to pledge their allegiance to the Queen who represents the colonialists that mistreated our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents in the past,” Ankit said.
“If the parliament can legislate to amend Citizenship Act and include an additional choice for new citizens reluctant to express allegiance to the monarch and instead express their allegiance to New Zealand the country – its laws, its people, its land – it would be great,” Ankit said.
The petition is available online here and is open for signatures till February 1, 2022.
A Kiwi-Indian migrant has launched a petition with parliament to include the option of declaring their allegiance to New Zealand, and not just with the Queen as is now, during the citizenship ceremony.
The petition is availabe here.
Ankit Parikh, a Research and Development Engineer, who has been...
A Kiwi-Indian migrant has launched a petition with parliament to include the option of declaring their allegiance to New Zealand, and not just with the Queen as is now, during the citizenship ceremony.
The petition is availabe here.
Ankit Parikh, a Research and Development Engineer, who has been living, studying, and working in New Zealand for almost twenty years, with six years as a citizen, has started a petition to remove the compulsion of stating allegiance to Queen, and including the additional and clearer option of taking allegiance to New Zealand.
“I am requesting the NZ government to provide people applying for citizenship with the choice to pledge allegiance to New Zealand or to the reigning Sovereign (the Queen),” Ankit said.
Indeed, this will once again stir the longstanding monarchist-republican debate – a debate that has not grown to be a full-blown political issue in New Zealand at least as of now. But the numbers supporting republicanism have been steadily growing over recent years in Australia and New Zealand.
However, Ankit is reluctant for his petition to be seen as another attempt of stirring up the ‘monarchism’ versus ‘republicanism’ debate in the country and is instead keen to present it in the context of the discomfort of colonial oppression often associated with the long British Monarchical lineage.
“I am only seeking to bring forward the expression of allegiance to New Zealand on an equal footing as an expression of allegiance to the monarch and be presented as alternative options for people to choose at the citizenship ceremony,” Ankit said.
Citizenship ceremony
The citizenship ceremony is the last step in the citizenship journey of any new migrant seeking to become a New Zealander, which requires everyone to make an oath or affirmation statement about their loyalty to New Zealand.
However, the oath or the affirmation that a new citizen has to read out loud at the citizenship ceremony is written in the manner where allegiance to the sovereign (Queen of England) precedes the commitment to the laws of New Zealand.
Ankit’s petition seeks to remove this aberration, or at least to put the option of stating allegiance to New Zealand on an equal footing as stating allegiance to the monarch.
What is the current oath/ affirmation of allegiance?
Under the current Citizenship Act, it is prescribed for a new citizen to make an oath or affirmation statement to say they are loyal to New Zealand.
The Oath in English (Te Reo option is available) reads out as, “I [say your name] swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of New Zealand, her heirs and successors according to law and that I will faithfully observe the laws of New Zealand and fulfil my duties as a New Zealand citizen. So help me God.”
It is this formal requirement imposed on new citizens to explicitly express their allegiance to the monarch (understood as synonymous to the nation and country in legal terms within a constitutional monarchy) that Ankit’s petition is seeking to amend and include an alternative choice to those who might find it uncomfortable owing to the colonial oppression subjected in the historical past.
What does this petition envisage to amend in the Oath of Allegiance?
“I feel (and believe that many migrants do as well) that it is insensitive, in this day and age, to expect new citizens to pledge their allegiance to the Queen who represents the colonialists that mistreated our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents in the past,” Ankit said.
“If the parliament can legislate to amend Citizenship Act and include an additional choice for new citizens reluctant to express allegiance to the monarch and instead express their allegiance to New Zealand the country – its laws, its people, its land – it would be great,” Ankit said.
The petition is available online here and is open for signatures till February 1, 2022.
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