Lange’s behaviour irrational, reckless —Peters

Press, 19 December 1988, Page 2

Lange’s behaviour irrational, reckless —Peters

There is mounting concern at the disintegration of the Prime Minister, according to Mr Winston Peters He told a public meeting in Southland yesterday that, party politics aside, it was not good for New Zealand to have such instability at the very top. For the moment, because it suited them, Labour Party people were staying loyal to Mr Lange, but they would plot because they knew he was behaving irrationally and recklessly. “His health concerns highlight muddle-headed and capricious decisionmaking,” Mr Peters said. The role of the No. 3 Cabinet Minister, Mr Mike Moore, along with public and private doubts about Mr Lange, would continue to eat away at Labour. The Roger Douglas vision of New Zealand had been rejected without any policy or vision to replace it, Mr Peters said. New Zealand did not' know what Mr Lange stood for. In an unprecedented series of actions, the Prime Minister had sacked two Cabinet Ministers (Mr Douglas and Mr Prebble), jettisoned his Left-wing conscience (Mr Jim Anderton) and forced another Minister (Mr Trevor de Cleene) to resign in support of his colleagues.