National MP Simon O'Connor believes New Zealand having a constitutional monarchy keeps our democracy "stable", whereas other systems can sometimes lead to violence during changes of power.
The Tamaki MP, the former chair of Monarchy New Zealand, gave the example of Sudan as a country where the change of a leader has become "very violent".
Sudan is currently caught up in conflict due to a power struggle between the country's armed forces, the leader of which became the nation's de facto leader after the fall of Omar al-Bashir, and a paramilitary group.
More than 500 people have been killed in clashes and thousands injured. The United Nations warns the crisis could lead to more than 800,000 people fleeing the country.
The question of whether New Zealand should remain as part of the British monarchy has again come to the fore ahead of King Charles' coronation this weekend. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said he's a republican but doesn't see a change of system as a priority.
O'Connor on Tuesday said he is a "staunch monarchist".
"New Zealand has an amazing and stable democracy because we are a constitutional monarchy," he said. "You've just seen an amazing change of political system without any bloodshed or stress."
He said in other countries, "often changes of leaders become very violent, very violent".
"Look at what is happening in Sudan at the moment or other countries," O'Connor said.
"We just find with constitutional monarchies, normally a change from one head of state to another within a constitutional monarchy is very quick, swift and peaceful.
"When you look at a lot of other republican countries, it's often quite fraught, very political."
He admitted there is a difference between the situations in New Zealand and Sudan.
O'Connor is facing a challenge by ACT's deputy leader Brooke van Velden in his electorate of Tamaki.
He said he's "very relaxed" and he's seen off others in the past.
"I think she should probably be scared of my majority."
He received 51.73 percent of the Tamaki electorate vote in 2020, despite the red wave at that election taking down other National electorate MPs. The runner-up, a Labour candidate, received 32.29 percent of the vote, while ACT came in fourth with 5.18 percent.
O'Connor's received some criticism for comments he's made in the past. Last year, he took down a Facebook post celebrating the overturning of the Roe v Wade abortion decision in the United States, while he apologised in March for making an "insensitive" comment about the Nashville shootings.
ACT leader David Seymour told NZHerald that O'Connor's conservative views on social issues like abortion were a factor in the decision to go after Tamaki.
O'Connor doesn't believe his views are controversial.
"People have different opinions and it's quite ironic that the ACT Party which talks about free thought is actually against opinions they disagree with."
He said people in his electorate want to discuss the cost of living and crime, not these issues.
