Independent MP Gaurav Sharma has announced his resignation from Parliament, triggering a by-election in his Hamilton West electorate.
In a lengthy Facebook post this afternoon, he said he intends to run under a new centrist party "with focus on outcomes and action rather than on ideologies."
"I do want to send a message to the government that you can’t silence the voice of the common man," he said.
"You have tried to shut me up at every avenue but I will continue to fight and stand up – for myself, for my constituents and for people of this country."
Sharma said he decided to resign to prevent the Prime Minister and the Labour Party from invoking the “waka jumping rule”. This rule would remove him from Parliament without triggering a by-election, which Sharma described as "underhanded".
In a statement this afternoon, Labour leader Jacinda Ardern rejected the idea that the party was considering invoking this rule, saying she did not know "the basis of Gaurav Sharma’s speculation."
"Gaurav may wish to reconsider his decision given he is unnecessarily costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars to trigger a by-election he then intends to stand in," she said.
Ardern called the move "unnecessary and wasteful" ahead of next year's general election.
Sharma had been expelled from Labour's caucus in August after raising allegations of bullying from within the party.
Labour has consistently denied this and said it was an employment matter coming from Sharma's office.
Sharma said the decision to resign was "not easy," but insists he did so to "pre-empt" the waka jumping rule.
"Labour and the PM were going to wait until the next year to invoke this rule 6 months before the General Election so that a by-election does not have to take place in Hamilton West.
"This is another way of silencing me but also stifling democracy by taking away the voice of people of Hamilton West.
"Instead of being without an MP for 6 months as Labour wants, the people of Hamilton will be able to elect an MP to continue to represent them."
In a statement this evening, Labour party president Claire Szabó said there was "no link" between Sharma potentially being expelled from the party and being waka jumped from Parliament.
"I am not aware of any discussion within Labour, at any level, about the prospect of triggering the waka-jumping law," Szabó said.
In an apparent prediction by Sharma that Labour would criticise him for triggering a costly by-election, his resignation post took aim at Government spending, including previous by-elections within the party.
Sharma also doubled down on his claims that the party "threw (him) under the bus". He claimed Labour whip Duncan Webb had "repeatedly said that 'the party comes before the country'."
"In order for New Zealand to forge ahead it is important that we place our country before the party."
Sharma has promised to release more details about his new centrist party "in due course".
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