UN Security Council Resolution 2334 criticised in NZ coalition agreement
Last week New Zealand’s new Prime Minister-elect, Jacinda Ardern, and New Zealand First leader and Deputy Prime Minister-elect, and likely Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters, signed a coalition agreement, which revealed the full extent of the policy wins obtained by New Zealand First in return for enabling the Labour Party to form a government.
Winston Peters
While foreign affairs did not feature significantly in the agreement, there was one notable exception.
The agreement included the provision committing the parties to Record a Cabinet minute regarding the lack of process followed prior to the National-led government’s sponsorship of UNSC2334.
While falling short of an open criticism of the content of the UN resolution, this step sends a clear signal that New Zealand First has not forgotten the one-sided and misconceived resolution and intends to repair some of the relationship damage caused by New Zealand’s co-sponsorship it.
This will be of some comfort to New Zealand supporters of Israel, many of whom felt betrayed by the National Party’s involvement in the resolution and disappointed by the National Party’s failure to acknowledge key concerns about the resolution’s effect, as well as the secrecy surrounding the process and refusal to acknowledge any wrongdoing by former Minister of Foreign Affairs McCully.
The provision in the agreement is in line New Zealand First’s position on the resolution prior to the election. Winston Peters was the most vocal critic of the resolution in Parliament, using question time to put the then-Government on the spot and expose its lack of due process in the lead-up to the resolution.
The acknowledgement in the agreement will no doubt be seen as a positive start for the newly appointed Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Winston Peters.
shalom.kiwi
UNNSC 2334 is NOT critisized in the agreement between Labor and NZ First. The statement merely says that a minute will be put in the Cabinet record – in other words the criticism is merely about the way the previous Government circumvented normal procedure when it did not get formal Cabinet approval.
Nowhere in the coalition agreement is there any intention to apologize or cancel this resolution or to withdraw NZ’s support of it. In fact the wording of the agreement makes it plain that this new NZ Government still supports Venezuela and Malaysia and other such enlightened human rights abusers. Jerusalem is still considered not part of Israel and other parts of the country belong to a mythical State called Palestine.
The ability of some to convince themselves and others that NZ has all of a sudden seen the light is amazing. Reality is that NZ still adheres to the mantra of the immoral UN majority. Arab trade considerations and other factors will ensure that nothing changes.
McCully did not bring the matter to cabinet would not have supported his View.There are moves afoot for National to issue a policy statement in due course to mend Fences with Israel and its supporters in NZ. They lost votes over this issue and Israel was for once a positive issue in the election campaign. I predict better relations with Jerusalem because relations are wanted with the White House.
The company I work for exports 98% of its production to Pacific rim countries and in Europe.26 countries in all very little goes to the Arab world. We export Food.