Greens pick up the pieces

Nearly a week on from the public reporting of shoplifting allegations levelled at Greens MP Golriz Ghahraman, she has tendered her resignation and apologised for falling short of the standards of behaviour expected from elected representatives.

It’s been nearly a month since her co-leaders learned of the allegations surrounding Ponsonby Road boutique Scotties.

But according to James Shaw and Marama Davidson, a lack of clarity around the details and Ghahraman being out of the country for the past few weeks forced them to wait before making any big decisions.

Today at the Green Party’s office in Auckland, the pair expressed empathy for their fallen comrade but said she was taking much-needed steps towards accountability with her resignation.

“We’re all very sad,” Davidson said. “This is a loss, let’s not make any bones about that. This is a big loss to the kaupapa, to the mahi, and just to a person that we love.”

They stressed the delicacy of the situation, declining to comment on the details of the allegations or the content of their conversations with Ghahraman since her return from an overseas trip on Saturday.

Ghahraman herself issued a statement apologising for her actions and explaining the context of the mental health problems behind them.

“It is clear to me that my mental health is being badly affected by the stresses relating to my work. This has led me to act in ways that are completely out of character. I am not trying to excuse my actions, but I do want to explain them.”

Shaw pointed to consistent threats and abuse Ghahraman had received in her six years in Parliament.

“Obviously Parliament is a stressful place, for anybody,” he said. “However, Golriz herself has been subject to pretty much continuous threats of sexual violence, physical violence, death threats, since the day she was elected to Parliament … there have been police investigations into those threats almost the entire time that she has been a member of Parliament. And so obviously if you are living with that level of threat in what is already quite a stressful situation, then there are going to be consequences for that.”

With Ghahraman exiting stage left and requesting space and privacy while she deals with her mental health, it leaves the Greens facing a potentially extensive portfolio reshuffle and a wounded reputation – especially given the departed member was the party spokesperson for justice.

And as the days ticked by after the story broke, media speculation began to coalesce around the party’s response to the scandal.

Shaw and Davidson were unwilling to address the situation until they had sat down with Ghahrahman in person – a difficult proposition when she’s an ocean away.

And while her fate hung in the balance, the media and public eye stayed trained on the situation for just that little bit longer. 

It won’t have helped that it all went down in the summer break news vacuum.

When asked why they didn’t get hold of Ghahraman during her travels to get the ball rolling sooner, Davidson said it was important to her and Shaw that they deal with the situation in person.

“It’s really appropriate, and I think ordinary folks across Aotearoa will understand it, [that] some conversations should only be face to face and should be in person,” she said. 

“Because that’s the only way you can gather the whole vibe and wairua of the nature of what’s being discussed. And also as people can appreciate, to have supports available to people in those discussions as well.”

It’s a sentiment that certainly reveals the sensitivity of the situation, but will that sensitivity be front of mind for the New Zealand public when they hear that the Greens co-leaders knew about the Scotties allegations for two weeks before commenting?

Then there’s the third allegation, made by Wellington store Cre8iveworx, which came to light on Monday. Shaw and Davidson were in the dark about that one until it came out through the media.

The co-leaders were unwilling to comment on that allegation, or whether they were disappointed Ghahraman hadn’t told them about it earlier.

“Nobody knows and nobody can say whether she is or isn’t being upfront about any other instances or allegations,” Davidson said. “That is for the police to answer.”

They’ll be thinking about how to redistribute the wealth of Ghahraman’s portfolios in the next two weeks before Parliament reconvenes on January 30, as well as welcoming former Wellington mayor and next-on-the-list Celia Wade-Brown to caucus.

It’s a rough start to the year for the party, which finds itself in Opposition after six years in positions of power. 

They rode in back in 2017 with the country’s first elected refugee MP.

But at today’s press announcement, a wall-sized poster depicting a line of Green MPs was partially obscured by another placard.

Behind the cardboard was Golriz Ghahraman – whether on purpose or by sad coincidence, she’s already being edited out of the family photographs.