KEY POINTS:
The head of the country's richest tribe has rejected a $300,000 package to quit his job.
And Ngai Tahu chairman Mark Solomon moved yesterday to quash rumours he was set to resign from the helm of the South Island's largest iwi.
The Herald understands Mr Solomon was expected to accept an exit package negotiated with a three-member tribal committee last week.
On Friday an offer - understood to have included a payout for the more than two years remaining in his term as chairman, worth around $300,000, and use of a company vehicle until 2009 - was put to Mr Solomon.
Speaking yesterday, Mr Solomon confirmed he had been in negotiations to leave the top job.
"I said if you wish me to go I would be paid out for the remainder of my term."
He said he believed his resignation would help the tribe to overcome a fierce division that has racked the 18-member board.
Mr Solomon had been expected to accept the proposal today.
However, he told the Herald he was not going.
Though an offer had been made, he had decided to reject it.
Mr Solomon said failure to confirm that the Kaikoura runanga he represented would continue to be served by the board had prompted his rethink.
"I asked the question, 'How does my runanga continue to be served if I resign?' They did not answer. It is after 5pm. The offer is rejected."
A senior source in the tribe said the decision just delayed the inevitable, and would lead to entrenched distrust.
The source predicted moves would be made to oust Mr Solomon at next week's board meeting.
However, Mr Solomon said he was confident he continued to have the support of the majority of the board.
Meanwhile, a senior tribal member said Mr Solomon's departure was the only way to end a bitter division that has racked Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu board for more than three years.
Half the board backed Mr Solomon but the other nine members were adamant he had to go, the source said.
Members' positions were further entrenched by the tribe's poor financial result last year and an increasing number of embarrassing leaks to the media from within the board.
At the tribe's annual meeting last year, concern about continued board friction dominated debate.
The board members and Mr Solomon gave an assurance to Ngai Tahu's more than 39,000 beneficiaries, many of whom were present at the meeting, that the executive would try harder to work together.
And despite Mr Solomon's unprecedented success - leading Ngai Tahu from an impoverished and virtually landless tribe before its $170 million Treaty settlement in 1998 to a commercial power-house with an asset base worth more than $540 million - there was growing resentment from within the executive at his failure to build bridges with the board, the source added.
The tribe's poor financial performance last year and continued division within its leadership made a move against Mr Solomon inevitable.
The source, who would not be named, said Mr Solomon was seen as an impediment to increasing efficiency within the tribe in moves to streamline tribal governance.
Any move to oust Mr Solomon is likely to cause concern among wider Maoridom. He is at the forefront of bringing greater unity to the country's iwi, and previously enjoyed unprecedented success in building strong links with North Island tribes.
