New Zealand Parliament votes for record suspensions of 3 lawmakers who performed Māori haka

New Zealand legislators has voted Thursday to enact record suspensions from Parliament for three lawmakers who performed a Māori haka to protest a proposed law

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- New Zealand legislators voted Thursday to enact record suspensions from Parliament for three lawmakers who performed a Māori haka to protest a proposed law.

Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke received a seven-day ban and her colleagues from Te Pāti Māori, the Māori Party, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, are barred for 21 days.

Three days had been the longest ban from New Zealand’s Parliament before.

They performed the haka last November to oppose a bill they said would reverse Indigenous rights. The protest provoked months of dispute among lawmakers about what the consequences should be. Thursday’s vote followed hours of fraught debate in Parliament.

Sponsored Content by Taboola