The news of the election of Phil Goff as the mayor of Auckland was meant to keep Aucklanders glued with the happenings of local governance. However, Roshan Nauhria, the founder president of New Zealand’s latest political party chose to shift the gear and announced his candidacy for the by-elections for Mt Roskill seat, the very next day after results of Auckland mayoralty elections were declared. Indian Weekender spoke with Nauhria on his party’s plans for the by-election and future in national politics. Here are excerpts from our exclusive interview with him.
IWK: How do you feel about announcing your candidacy for the proposed Mt. Roskill by-election?
Roshan: We are excited as it would be the first election for our party. We see it as a stepping stone to the next election is scheduled in 2017. Being new to the political arena, we will need a lot of experience. Mt. Roskill is one place where we have a big Asian community, including Indians, making it easier and faster for us to make inroads into the suburb. However, we are not taking anything for granted and will need to put in a lot of hard work. We will have to drive through our message to the people about what we stand for and what we intend to do for them.
One of the major problems the residents face is that of law and order, which we have made our main agenda for the bypolls. Immigration is another issue the party feels strongly about. But for now, we will concentrate on the law and order situation in the area. There have been a large number of instances wherein people and businesses from ethnic communities are regularly targeted by criminals and nothing is being done to fight the problem. Our party will stand in support of the ethnic communities and ensure that their concerned are heard and addressed.
IWK: What have been doing since the formation of the NZ Political Party last month? Are you deterred by the criticism you have received from NZ First in particular and many other mainstream political parties?
Roshan: We are here to play positive politics. We do not want to play any dirty politics and eventually bring a bad name for our communities. It is our opponents’ job to criticise us, and they are welcome to do that. We will not respond to them. We will continue to focus on positive politics that we intend to play. I understand that for long, Winston Peters has wanted to get the balance of power in the current political situation. And now that we are here to seek that balance, he is obviously not happy about it. But we are not worried about it; it is his problem.
IWK: Do you intend to stay here for the long term?
Roshan: We form 10-13% of the total population but are not being represented in the parliament. There is a need for someone to present the community in the parliament and raise our concerns. Politics is not for one day, or one week, or one year. Our people (Asian people) are not going anywhere. They are going to be here for the long term and so are we.
IWK: Given your big vision for the Indian and other Asian communities for the next election and beyond, don't you think that you are tying yourself down by declaring your candidacy for the bypolls? Don't you think that your party could have benefitted by fielding some other candidate?
Roshan: This issue was raised and discussed in our party's executive meeting wherein my name was unanimously decided to fight the bypolls. The selection was made based on the assessment that Mt. Roskill elections are the most immediate polls since the announcement our party and therefore, we need to put our best foot forward. We need to win the polls, or at best to make an impact on the people.
IWK: What is your strategy to win the by-election?
Roshan: We are quite well received in the Mt. Roskill area. All we need to do is to drive our message to our people. By our people, we mean all Asian ethnic communities and not just the Indian community. In fact, we have more support among the Chinese community than the Indian community. We have also been getting support from the Korean, Sri Lankan, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities. We would like to work with the Maori and the Pacific communities as well.
I also want to make it clear that we are not asking for any special rights for our people. All we are asking is a fair representation of our community in the parliament so that our people can walk on the roads freely and feel secure.
IWK: Has your party conducted any poll in the constituency to suggest the kind of support your party is getting?
Roshan: We have not done any such poll and we don’t feel the need to do that. We are a new party and it will be hard to gauge support like that. We have spoken to a lot of people, both within the Indian community and outside, as well as among the other Asian communities. Fortunately, we have received a lot of support. Everyone can relate to the issues that we intend to raise.
IWK: Do you have any specific target for the 2017 election?
Roshan: We want 10% votes in the 2017 polls. We know that it is an ambitious target and we need to work for that. We need support from all your readers and audience.
IWK: Well, it is for our readers to decide and take an informed decision. All we can do is put across your message to them…(interrupted)
Roshan: We have received a lot of attention from the Chinese media, even more than the Indian media. We are hoping to make it a mixed representation involving the Chinese, the Filipino, the Korean, the Nepali, the Bangladeshi and many other minority communities.
IWK: How do you intend to make a difference in the current political environment in NZ?
Roshan: We want to bring political will in New Zealand to deter criminal activities