Coalition will fight on both fronts

Press, 4 March 1989, Page 9

Coalition will fight on both fronts

By

KAY FORRESTER

The new Citizens-Waimairi team to fight October’s local body elections will field candidates for the new regional council as well as the enlarged city council.

The Citizens Association chairman, Mr Dennis Rich, confirmed yesterday that the new organisation would put up regional candidates for the constituencies in the city area. It still had to be decided whether the organisation would put up regional candidates for constituencies beyond the city boundary. The organisation will back candidates in all wards in the new Christchurch City. Mr Rich said the organ-

isation formed by a merger of the Citizens Association and Mrs Margaret Murray’s Waimairi Independence team would be launched in the next two weeks. An election of officers for the new organisation would be held. Mr Rich emphasised that the new team had room for anyone who wanted to join. “It’s not just Citizens and Waimairi. It’s an organisation to oppose the Labour candidates.”

Once the organisation was set up, the next task would be the selection of candidates, he said. A name for the group would probably include the word Citizens, Mr Rich said. The Christchurch Citizens Association, which voted itself out of existence at its annual meeting on’Thursday evening, was formed 60 years ago. The Waimairi Independence Team was formed to fight the last local body election.