A regime Minister uses their parliamentary platform to slander an opposition MP as a pedophile, resulting in escalating threats to their safety. Eventually, they are forced to resign in order to protect their child from harm.
Putin's Russia? Orban's Hungary? No, it's Winston Peters' New Zealand:
The Green Party’s Benjamin Doyle is resigning as an MP, citing concerns for their safety and the wellbeing of their whānau.This is clearly the right decision for Doyle and their family (and good on them for putting their kid first - something too few MPs do). At the same time, its a terrible precedent for our democracy.[...]
In a statement on Friday afternoon, Doyle said they decided to resign after their young child had asked them to leave Parliament for their own wellbeing.
“After having baseless and violent accusations thrown at me, and an onslaught of hate, vitriol and threats of real-world violence directed at me and my whānau, I have decided to move on from Parliament.
“Whānau is the most precious thing in the world. From the start, I have always said my child is my priority. My tamati asked me to leave Parliament, and I am leaving for them and for my own wellbeing,” they said.
This is not the first time this has happened. Jacinda Ardern was bullied out of office. And there have been systematic campaigns against Golriz Ghahraman and Tory Whanau. It is clear that the right are pursuing a deliberate campaign of harassment and threats of violence as a way of over-ruling the will of the voters and eliminating effective opponents. In a normal country, the people responsible would be in jail. But clearly, we're not a normal country any more. Instead, we have a regime, whipping up mobs and using terror to silence opposition.
In a democracy, who represents us is meant to be decided by voting. A country where elected representatives are bullied out of office by threatening their children is no longer a democracy.
