Controversial first-term Dunedin city councillor Benedict Ong has announced a run as an independent candidate in the November general election, saying bans against him have left him unable to do his council job.
Ong announced his bid in a social media post, less than a year after he was elected to the Dunedin City Council.
He described the bans against him as "wrongful and false" and said he had been hit by "malicious falsehoods and political attacks".
"I cannot as a wing-clipped and banned City Councillor drive our Dunedin City to fly and soar," he wrote.
His council term has been marked by controversy. He has faced several code of conduct complaints, and early this year he was escorted from a council meeting with tape across his mouth.
In March, councillors voted 10-2 to ask him to resign. He refused, and read from Franz Kafka's The Trial rather than defend himself.
This month the University of Otago trespassed him after the students' association reported two alleged incidents at a campus protest involving unwanted physical closeness or contact with students.
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