Posted by Blogger Name. Category:
Dirty deals
,
Extradition
,
Green Party
,
Internet Party
,
Kim Dotcom
,
Laila Harre
,
Waka-jumping
We came across this interesting gem hidden away on Stuff; check this out:
Laila Harre is on the spot changing trail
Meanwhile, Norman revealed that new Internet Party leader Laila Harre had wanted to be a Green Party MP before she quit her adviser role in December.
A spokesman confirmed s he was also on the campaign committee until a fortnight ago.
Kim Dotcom’s $3.25m donation to the Internet-Mana alliance was registered with the Electoral Commission at the weekend.
Harre will draw a $148,000 salary. Records show Colin Craig also injected another $55,000 into his Conservative Party.
This is fascinating. Right up to two weeks ago, one week before she became the leader of the Internet Party, Laila Harre was actively working on the Greens' election campaign, albeit in a voluntary capacity.
What changed? How can someone go from actively campaigning for one party to being the leader of a completely different party in just seven days?
As we see it, there are two possible explanations, and neither of them is especially palatable. The first is that Laila Harre has sold the Green Party down the river by jumping (politically, of course) into bed with Dotcom, and taking his tainted money. Given that Laila Harre has previously been involved with Labour, New Labour, the Alliance and most recently the Greens, she has certainly been politically flexible!
But here's the other possible explanation. Is it possible that the Greens have been in cahoots all along, despite Russel Norman's statement earlier in the year that he was trying to talk Dotcom out of launching a party?
It makes sense. Both parties claim to appeal to younger, tech-savvy voters. The Greens certainly have a high digital/social media presence. Both parties are anti-GCSB/SIS/USA. Neither party thinks Kim Dotcom should be extradited to the USA, and both see him as more saint than sinner.
So has the Green Party actually done a dirty, back-room deal with Dotcom? It's time for an absolute denial that Laila Harre has not jumped into the German waka with the Greens' blessing, and a similarly categorical denial that no money has changed hands.
