Nandor Tanczos

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Image:NandorTanczos.png
Parl.	Electorate	List Pos.	Party
46th	List	5	Greens
47th	List	4	Greens
48th	List	7 → 6	Greens

Image:Nandorataucklanduni.png Nándor Stephen Tánczos (born 1966), a member of the New Zealand Parliament, represents the Green Party as a list MP. He briefly lost his seat in the 2005 General Election, but ranked next on the party list and agreed to rejoin Parliament following the death of Rod Donald. Tánczos, one of the more "colourful" of New Zealand's politicians, attracts both strong criticism and enthusiastic support.

From 2005 Tánczos has served as the Green Party spokesperson on Commerce, Constitutional Issues, Electoral Reform, Environment, Forestry, Information and Communication Technology, Justice, Land Information, Statistics, Sustainable Land Management and Waste.

The New Zealand public knows Tánczos primarily as the voice advocating the liberalisation of the cannabis law in New Zealand, although he also actively campaigns against genetic engineering and in favour of restorative justice. He also has a reputation as New Zealand's first and only Rastafarian MP. His most significant legislative achievement, the Clean Slate Act, conceals non-violent criminal offences if the offender does not re-offend after 7 years. In addition to his political policies, Tánczos also supports open source software, and uses Mandrake Linux on his work lap-top.

Opinions of Tánczos vary greatly. Political opponents have tended to categorize him as a dangerous radical, often citing his role as a spokesperson for the Wild Greens, a direct-action group that claimed responsibility for uprooting a trial crop of genetically-engineered potatoes in 1999. Some regard him as a comic icon, not as an earnest, sensible politician. His supporters, however, reject both images of Tanczos, instead presenting him as intelligent, lucid, and constructive. Younger voters generally find "Nandor" more popular than older voters do.

Tánczos first gained election to Parliament in the 1999 elections, having held the fifth place on the Green Party's list. His previous involvement with politics had involved the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party and before that, the McGillicuddy Serious Party. In the 2002 elections, Tanczos occupied the fourth Green list place, and remained in Parliament. In the 1999, 2002 and 2005 elections, Tanczos also contested the Auckland Central electorate, winning 9.2%, 20.0% and 14.4% of the vote respectively.

Tánczos's Hungarian-born father fled the Hungarian Communist regime in 1957; his South African-born mother has German ancestry. Tánczos completed a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree at the University of Waikato, and also has qualifications in permaculture and in sustainable land management. He co-founded Hempstore Aotearoa, a business that produces hemp-related products such as cosmetics and clothing.

Tánczos has had disputes with the New Zealand Police over his continuing refusal to wear a bike safety-helmet. He now has an official exemption, giving him the legal right to ride without a helmet.

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2005 Election

In April 2005 the Green Party announced their list for the 2005 elections. Tánczos ranked 7th, moving down 3 places from 2002.

As of election night (17 September) the Green Party polled 5.07% of the vote, qualifying them for 6 seats, which meant that Tánczos stood to lose his parliamentary seat. In both the 1999 and 2002 elections the number of special votes for the Green party had sufficed to earn them an extra seat once the official count finished. The final total in 2005 (announced on 1 October) fell just short of the number required for a seventh seat, leaving Tánczos out of parliament.

However, soon afterwards, in November 2005, the Green Party co-leader Rod Donald died suddenly. This allowed Tánczos to return to Parliament as the next candidate on the Green list.

Image:Nz national party coromandel1999 postcard back.gif A National Party campaign leaflet in 1999 portrayed Tánczos as condoning vandalism and drug use.

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