Embattled MP Gaurav Sharma says his decision to resign from Parliament and trigger a by-election in his Hamilton West electorate is "not at all" a personal pushback against the Government.
Sharma made the announcement in a lengthy Facebook post yesterday, adding that he intends to run in the by-election under a new centrist party "with focus on outcomes and action rather than on ideologies".
Sharma told Breakfast this morning the decision was "not at all" a personal one.
"Hamilton West could end up not having a voice in Parliament at all when the Labour Party invoked this waka-jumping rule," he said.
The embattled MP announced his resignation from Parliament on Tuesday.
"And what I'm saying here is in all of this...I'm the one who's lost their job, so this isn't about sticking it to anybody, I'm the one who's going to come out of it with a loss and as many of the experts will tell you there might be a chance that I might not even win the election."
Sharma claims Labour were planning to invoke the waka-jumping rule against him next year, six months before the General Election. This would see him removed from Parliament without replacement until somebody won the Hamilton West seat in the election.
In a statement, Labour leader Jacinda Ardern rejected this, adding: "Gaurav may wish to reconsider his decision given he is unnecessarily costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars to trigger a by-election he then intends to stand in."
Sharma said he was informed on Saturday evening that Labour planned to invoke the rule, but would not say who told him and could not provide proof, as "the whole thing is done in a way that there is no track record".
And the embattled MP rejected the idea that triggering a by-election was selfish, adding that he "might not even win".
"So in a way I'm actually losing my job...I have had to resign because I'm concerned about my constituents not having a voice in Parliament if I am removed, if anybody is removed six months before the General Election."
On his plans to create a new political party, Sharma said: "We're getting to a point where it's just too much of red and blue, and we need people just to focus on policy, to focus on outcomes rather than ideologies.
"I'm standing for accountability of government, of any colour whether it's red or blue, and what I'm talking about is working across the house on policies rather than just focusing on ideologies."
Political commentator and former Labour insider Josie Pagani said "we're back to 'he said, she said', who knows quite what was said".
Former Labour insider Josie Pagani said better political management could have prevented the situation.
"I think the problem for Labour is that (Sharma)...doesn't come across as slightly unhinged, he's been quite reasonable, he comes across as quite credible," she said. "I think the problem for Sharma is that he's not really resigning on a big point of principle.
"It looks like the kind-of 'save Sharma' party rather than any great strong principled reason that he's leaving," she said.
"The problem for Labour is that this is not a by-election they want, it should never have happened.
"He should have been mollycoddled, he should have been called into the prime minister's office, that would be good political management soon as that op-ed came out, and just wrapped around with a sort of straight jacket of support so that he can't go anywhere and then you hope, you make sure he loses the nomination in the next election," Pagani said.
She doesn't expect Sharma to win the by-election despite "pockets of support".
On the Labour Party, Pagani said the saga shows a "failure of leadership".
"I can't think of any prime minister in the last 30 years who wouldn't the minute that op-ed came out, wouldn't have called in someone like Sharma and said 'right, you're part of my team, how do we make this go away, what can we do'.
"You do that because it's good political management but it's a failure of the Whip's office as well, a failure of the culture of the party."
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