An angry mob descending on Parliament grounds at the same time the Labour caucus meets to deliver a verdict for its own rogue MP will be a Tuesday morning the Prime Minister would rather forget, writes political editor Jo Moir.
Protesters making their way to Wellington on Tuesday claim they will hold a ‘People’s Court’ where politicians and journalists will be tried for crimes against humanity.
They also want a snap election – in other words, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Cabinet gone.
Inside Parliament, behind the blackout curtains put in place as part of protest security measures, the Labour caucus will meet where suspended Hamilton West MP Gaurav Sharma will be tried for crimes against his own colleagues.
Sharma will very likely be expelled by lunchtime at the same time the People’s Court starts ramping up outside.
In Sharma’s case, he is free to attend the meeting and make his case. He told Newsroom on Monday evening he’d decide in the morning whether to fly to Wellington or not.
On the other hand, Jacinda Ardern rightly has no plans to meet or engage with the protesters outside.
It’s barely six months since the three-week occupation of Parliament grounds ended with the people’s lawn in flames and police officers being pelted with paving stones.
The preparation for this protest is on another level to what was seen in February - a welcome relief for those who live, work and travel through the area who had to stay indoors, close their doors, or find alternative routes as protesters took over a public space.
Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson has previously described the protest to Newsroom as “a real lowlight, probably the lowest light of my whole time in politics, and I went through nine years of Opposition”.
On Monday he told Newsroom the measures in place ahead of the protest are completely proportionate given what happened earlier this year.
He said those distressing three weeks are on his mind ahead of the next protest.
Threats to Ardern’s security are often, and it’s a given her protection service will be on high alert on Tuesday as she heads to the Beehive and goes about her usual business with the House sitting.
Ardern says she mostly doesn’t get told about the various threats made against her and she’d prefer not to know - many would struggle to blame her if she gave Parliament a wide berth while the protesters are in town, but in her mind that would be letting them win.
It’s barely six months since the three-week occupation of Parliament grounds ended with the people’s lawn in flames and police officers being pelted with paving stones.
When she heads to Labour caucus Ardern and her MPs will be mindful of Sharma’s ongoing and repeated allegations and attacks over the weekend, which will have done nothing to help his case.
Ardern’s unwillingness to investigate any of his claims means there’s no end road.
Sharma says he won’t let up until he’s had a “fair trial’’ but Ardern’s made it clear she has no intentions of launching an inquiry.
That’s a stalemate with no resolution other than turfing him out of the Labour team.
Both Ardern and Robertson told Newsroom on Monday the party has a process for supporting new MPs that didn’t exist in their time - in other words, he should be grateful.
Labour’s deputy leader Kelvin Davis has the job of keeping tabs on everyone and being accessible when there are issues within the caucus, but Sharma told Newsroom he never went to Davis with his complaints.
Instead, he thought it was a matter for the Prime Minister and so went straight to her chief of staff.
Robertson said every senior MP has a role to play in supporting other MPs and described a “de facto buddy system’’ in operation for exactly that reason.
He also stressed Ardern’s door was also open, either physically or virtually, as was his.
But in this case (and possibly others) Sharma saw senior MPs’ doors as being firmly closed.
Most people have experience of a senior manager claiming to be approachable and having an open-door policy, only for none of their staff to ever walk through it.
While Parliament’s doors will be well and truly bolted shut to protesters outside on Tuesday - senior Labour MPs could find themselves having to seriously reflect just how open their own have been.
