Three Indians strong on the National List

Party announces extended List of 75 candidates

Wellington, July 30, 2017

Three persons of Indian origin are likely to make it to Parliament if the National Party gains a good percentage of candidate and Party votes in the general election to be held on September 23, 2017.

The Party does not have any quota for ethnicities and based only on its rating of candidates’ standing in the community and its own belief of public acceptability.

Sitting MPs Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi is on Rank 32 and Dr Parmjeet Parmar on Rank 34, both safe places considering the Party’s performance in the past three elections. They are of course not in winning positions in their respective electorates of Manukau East and Mt Roskill.

New comer Bala (Venu) Beeram, contesting from Kelston, has been ranked 57, a ‘touch and go’ position but could make it to the debating Chamber if he does well as a candidate and the Party gets sufficient percentage of votes.

Following is a Statement issued just now by Party President Peter Goodfellow:

Strong Mix of Talent and Freshness

National’s 2017 Party List is a strong mix of experienced talent and fresh faces.

National is incredibly lucky to have so many capable people we can draw on, from our Leader and Prime Minister Bill English right through to our newest candidates.

Putting together a list is never easy, but this strikes the right balance between recognising experience, diversity, and pursuing ongoing renewal.

The current Cabinet and Speaker David Carter make up spots one through 21, with existing MPs and new candidates following that. If National matched its result from 2014, 13 new MPs would enter Parliament alongside 47 returning MPs.

Party’s rejuvenation

Rejuvenation is important for any political party, and National is going into this election with some fantastic new candidates. We are also bidding farewell to some very dedicated MPs who have served their constituents, our party and the country with distinction.

This is National’s most diverse list ever.

We are incredibly proud to represent New Zealanders from all walks of life, with a range of ethnicities and backgrounds.

We have got businesspeople, teachers, farmers, community advocates, scientists, and a pilot – just to name a few.

Tough fight ahead

National is working hard to build a strong economy so we can afford to invest in the things that matter to New Zealanders, like training more teachers, investing in health services, building more schools and roads, and boosting family incomes.

Every MMP election is very close. All our candidates will be campaigning hard to ensure National gets a strong Party Vote result so we can keep delivering for New Zealanders.

The only way to secure another strong, National-led Government and avoid a chaotic Labour/Greens/New Zealand First coalition is by Party Voting National, and that is what all our candidates and volunteers will be focused on over the next eight weeks.

National’s 2017 List