ANALYSIS: There's only one way Meka Whaitiri's letter to the Speaker will come out - and it entirely rests on the will of Te Pāti Māori
The letter holds the key to giving New Zealanders confidence the law hasn't been circumnavigated by politicians finding constitutional loopholes. The argument the Speaker is making is that Whaitiri's so-called resignation letter didn't meet the threshold of the waka-jumping law because she only took her voting rights away from Labour rather than officially resigning from the party to him.
The Speaker is correct not to release Whaitiri's letter - it shouldn't be on him to undermine trust and publish private correspondence from an MP. That would set a precedent no one would feel comfortable with.
But there's no way to force the letter out like other government information because Parliament isn't subject to the Official Information Act.
So it's up to the Māori Party to clear this Meka mess up.
Though it looks unlikely that they will. I texted Māori Party president John Tamihere asking if he would release the letter. He replied: "Why???"
This week co-leaders and Whaitiri have not done the jobs they are paid a lot of taxpayer money to do. They are already perceived to have a shoddy attendance record and this week they have not attended a single day of Parliament.
They have avoided scrutiny about the mutiny Whaitiri just pulled on Labour.
But Tuesday next week the co-leaders and their fresh new Māori Party MP - or not depending who you ask - are due back here and that's when dodging questions ends and accountability begins.
Jenna Lynch is Newshub's Political Editor.
