High farce as Alliance set for two chiefs

By AUDREY YOUNG

The Alliance is likely to hold an early conference to elect Laila Harre as its new leader after Jim Anderton yesterday announced his intention to defect to another party next election.

That means Labour's coalition partner will have dual leaders - Mr Anderton as leader of the caucus and recognised by Parliament, and Ms Harre elected by the conference under the party's constitution.

The pair will operate a single caucus for House matters and separate caucuses for party matters.

To keep her cabinet post, Ms Harre will have to tread a careful path within the bounds of collective responsibility by not attacking Mr Anderton, the Deputy Prime Minister, and by voting with the Government.

Mr Anderton will set up an as-yet unnamed party, his third, in May to compete against the Alliance at the next election.

He will be joined by at least four other MPs, including deputy Sandra Lee.

But he will remain Alliance leader until the election.

He is trapped by the the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Act, the party-hopping law which he supported last year. It would force him to resign from Parliament if he resigns from his party.

In an advertisment in today's Herald Mr Anderton and Sandra call for donations to a Christchurch address under the headline "Commitment".

"We are making a commitment to New Zealand working together," the advertisement says.

Speaking from Fiji last night, Ms Harre agreed there was "high farce" about the situation. But Government stability was the priority.

She said she would try to limit the damage the split would inevitably cause to the Government overall.

She said there was now "an inevitability" about her standing as Alliance leader. Some party councillors have suggested that the conference, scheduled for July, be brought forward.

In a conference call last night, the council resolved to write to all 10 Alliance MPs to ask if they intended to stand for the party at the next election. They will have seven days to respond.

Ms Harre and Mr McCarten will negotiate with Mr Anderton over how to manage the split, including the contentious issue of the leaders' budget.

In other developments yesterday:

* The Democratic Party, with the exception of MPs Grant Gillon and John Wright, quit as a constituency party of the Alliance. * Mr McCarten said he had alerted Alliance banks to the possibility that attempts might be made to transfer party money.

* Labour's deputy Michael Cullen dismissed suggestions of an early election but said Labour was the only party in Parliament "not afraid of an early election".

Mr Anderton said 80 per cent of 2100 letters he received from members in the past three weeks supported his approach to coalition.

"For some, the success of this Government is a failure," he said, referring to party leftists who dominate its governing council.

"They want the Alliance to distinguish itself from the successful Government regardless of how good the Government is.

"The majority of Alliance MPs are saying that members of the Alliance Council cannot expect to govern the country as de facto MPs, using elected representatives as mere pawns or puppets.

Mr McCarten said Mr Anderton was "trying to defend the indefensible. This is a resignation from the party. I don't know how people who are advocates of a party-hopping bill to stop this use technicalities and loopholes to get out of their obligations to the movement.

"His legacy in politics is destroyed today. He has destroyed it by himself. The legacy he had was a man of principle, hard but principled.

"I thought I knew him. I no longer know him."

Mr McCarten said he would not support the party's expelling Mr Anderton.

Of the party's 10 MPs, three - Laila Harre, Willie Jackson and Liz Gordon - will remain Alliance loyalists.

Among those loyal to Mr Anderton are Sandra Lee, Matt Robson and the two Democrats, Mr Gillon and Mr Wright, who have decided to run under the new party banner.

Phillida Bunkle and Kevin Campbell pledged their support to Mr Anderton's leadership, but have not made any commitment about the new party.