Anjali Appadurai says the BC NDP’s decision to disqualify her from her leadership race raises legitimate questions about the party’s democratic processes, while several NDP federal MPs believe she should have been allowed to run.
Appadurai was officially disqualified from the race on October 19 after running a climate campaign that successfully attracted thousands of new members to the provincial NDP. The disqualification was based on a report by the party’s electoral director, Elizabeth Cull, which cited “serious misconduct” by the Appadurai campaign that included working with third parties for membership drives.
“I think I did the right thing. I did the democratic thing,” Appadurai said. “It didn’t go the way I expected, and I don’t think it went in a way that was ultimately what was best for the match or for my opponent.”
Four federal MPs weighed in on the BC NDP leadership race on Twitter to side with Appadurai in his call to stay in the race. None agreed to answer the questions of Canadian National Observer.
“This is bullshit right here. #LetHerRun”, MP from Ontario matthew green tweeted on October 18 in response to news that Cull recommended that Appadurai be disqualified from the lead race.
The next day, the PND deputy nikki ashton he tweeted his thoughts on the situation.
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“As a New Democrat, I am very disappointed that the New Democrats in BC are not going to get the election they deserve,” the Manitoba MP wrote.
MPs Leah Gazan and Lori Idlout also took to Twitter with their views.
“Members should be able to choose who leads their party. Let the members vote and #LetHerRun,” Gazan tweeted just before the BC NDP voted to disqualify Appadurai. Idlout, Representative for Nunavut, commented in Gazan’s post, writing: “#LetHerRun support democracy.
“The questions that we have opened up here are way beyond me…it is about the direction of the NDP at the provincial level and, I would say, at the federal level,” said @AnjaliApp, who was disqualified from the NDP leadership race. BC NDP on Wednesday. #bcpoli #BCNDP
Only the Idlout office responded to Canadian National Observersaying: “MP Idlout has no further comment to make on the BC NDP leadership race, and his tweet expresses his opinion on this matter.”
The support of federal MPs for the NDP is a “really interesting indication that this conversation needed to be had,” Appadurai said. Canadian National Observer in a Zoom interview a few hours before the Oct. 19 vote.
“The questions that we’ve opened up here are way beyond me…it’s about the direction of the NDP at the provincial level and, I would say, at the federal level.”
Much of the BC NDP’s fear over the imminent prospect of a BC Liberal Party victory and the rise of far-right elements in the country and province was redirected towards its leadership campaign, Appadurai said.
“Certainly we are hearing that comment that we are responsible for making the party look weak before a really critical election, and to that I say, if the party doubles down on the centralization of power in the name of winning elections, we have lost sight of who we are. And what do we stand for?
The whole situation highlights a clear divide between rank-and-file members and party leaders, says Max Cameron, a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia.
Things reached this “crisis point” through a combination of factors: the BC NDP’s low membership, the party’s failure to keep rank-and-file members engaged, a prime minister who has been very clear about favoring development over the environment and a climate emergency, Cameron said.
Within the BC NDP, environmentally conscious voters are always in a “tug-of-war” with those who put more emphasis on the need to maintain a productive economy and good-paying jobs, said Stewart Perst, a political scientist at Quest University in Squamish, BC The province’s investment in liquefied natural gas projects and its relative inaction in felling mature trees are emblematic of this tension.
“It’s always been this balance, and I think it’s partly a function of being in government, but it’s also partly a function of the different factions that exist within the NDP itself,” Perst said. These factions also exist within the federal NDP, he added.
For example, the federal NDP has long avoided answering whether it would cancel the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline if the party came to power.
“The federal NDP is committed to fighting the Trans Mountain pipeline because it doesn’t want to upset Rachel Notley, and the federal NDP isn’t fighting fracking because it doesn’t want to upset John Horgan,” said Elizabeth, a Green MP and aspiring leader. . may said Canadian National Observer.
Unlike the ruling BC NDP, the federal NDP is “effectively a protest party,” said Sanjay Jeram, a professor of political science at Simon Fraser University. “They play a role in this minority coalition… but they are not a party that can hope to form a government on their own… They are governed by different rules.
“The (federal) NDP holds their party together. But… it’s a pretty small caucus right now,” Jeram said. “Where they are with only a very limited number of seats, mainly in very, very dense urban areas, I think it’s easier for them to maintain a unified approach.”
If the federal NDP had more party members and MPs, particularly in dense constituencies where its presence has dwindled, it would likely see “more open conflict” and balancing acts that “(vomit) the public”, he added.
— With archives from The Canadian Press
Natasha Bulowski / Local Journalism Initiative / Canadian National Observer