Summarised by Centrist 

Jacqui Van Der Kaay says Golriz Ghahraman’s resignation from the Green Party leaves questions about the party’s lax attitude towards transparency in addressing her shoplifting allegations. The party’s co-leaders’ response and the timeline of events don’t make sense.

“Late last week, when the co-leaders issued a statement about the allegations, they said they hadn’t made a public statement about the allegations earlier at the store Scotties’ request. Yesterday they said it was because they wanted to speak to Ghahraman in person. Neither of these stacks up,” she says. 

While Ghahraman cited mental health struggles, transparency and timely communication with the public have been called into question as the Greens took nearly three weeks to break silence. 

Van Der Kaay says the number one rule of managing any situation that has the potential to damage a party’s reputation is to be open and transparent as soon as possible. This is especially true in a small country like New Zealand where news is bound to get out, she says. 

Additionally, there are broader issues surrounding the support and safety of MPs facing serious threats and stress during their tenure.

Read more over at Democracy Project

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