Alas no progress on electoral reform. At the weekend Tront 15-16 March 08 decided that elections should be held in the format that the Electoral Review Committee recommended. This is virtually the same as has existed; Electoral College and multiple votes. Certainly there is no prospect now of a democratic vote for shareholders.
The reason Tront took this decision was that Tahu Potiki was threatening legal action. The irony is that Tahu Potiki was CEO of the Office that issued the edict that Tront elections were to be halted.
If Potiki wanted an election he could have one. There is nothing in the legislation to stop his marae having an election. No doubt Tront sought legal advise on this issue; they are very good in this respect.
Why did Tront decide to back down because of the threat from Potiki?
If Tront were serious about real electoral reform they could have challenged Potiki and gone to Court. In Court Tront would argue that they are going through an electoral reform process and need more time. A judge, I am sure, would rule that this was reasonable and would allow Tront time to come up with reforms.
But Tront will not want to go to Court for two reasons, I think:
they are quite happy with the status quo
court proceedings would be public and expose the tribe to a lack of democratic elections.
It is also interesting to note that Whanau Awhina (WR) -the committee set up to oversee the Electoral Review Committee had a Feb 08 meeting cancelled at short notice.
WR had no opportunity to consider the second round of consultation
This just shows, in my view, WR was set up in name only and with no substance or influence