Nandor Tanczos (born 1966) is a member of the New Zealand Parliament, being a list MP for the Green Party. He briefly lost his seat in the 2005 General Election, but he was next in line for a seat and agreed to rejoin Parliament following the death of Rod Donald. He is one of the more "colourful" of New Zealand's politicians, attracting both strong criticism and strong praise.
| Parl. | Electorate | List Pos. | Party |
| 46th | List | 5 | Greens |
| 47th | List | 4 | Greens |
As of 2004 he is the Green Party spokesperson on Drug Law Reform, Information Technology, Justice, Tertiary Education, Treaty Issues, Urban Affairs and Youth Affairs.
Tanczos is known to the public primarily as the voice advocating the liberalisation of the cannabis law in New Zealand, although he is also active in campaigning against genetic engineering and in favour of restorative justice. He is also known as New Zealand's first and only Rastafarian MP. His most significant legislative achievement was the Clean Slate Act which conceals non-violent criminal offences if the offender does not re-offend after 7 years. In addition to these political policies, he is also supportive of open source software — and uses Mandrake on his work laptop.
Opinions of Tanczos are greatly varied. 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. To others, he is regarded 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. Tanczos is generally more popular with younger voters than older ones.
Tanczos was first elected to Parliament in the 1999 elections, having been ranked in fifth place on the Green Party's list. His previous involvement with politics had been with the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party and before that, the McGillicuddy Serious Party. In the 2002 elections, Tanczos was ranked in fourth 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.
Tanczos completed a Bachelor of Social Sciences at Waikato University, and also has qualifications in permaculture and sustainable land management. He is a co-founder of Hempstore Aotearoa, a business that produces hemp-related products such as cosmetics and clothing.
Nandor was once at odds with the New Zealand Police over his continuing refusal to wear a bike safety helmet. He now has an official exemption, so he is legally entitled to ride without a helmet.
2005 Election
In April 2005 the Green Party announced their list for the 2005 elections. Tanczos was placed 7th, moving down 3 places from 2002.
As of Election night (17th September) the Green party polled 5.07% of the vote, qualifying them for 6 seats, which meant that Tanczos would lose his parliamentary seat. In both the 1999 and 2002 elections the number of special votes for the Green party has been sufficient to earn them an extra seat once the official count was completed. The final total in 2005 (announced on 1st October) fell just short of the number required for a seventh seat, leaving Tanczos out of parliament.
However, soon after this in November 2005, the Green Party co-leader Rod Donald died suddenly. This allowed Tanczos to return to Parliament as the next candidate on the list.
A National Party campaign leaflet in 1999 portrayed him as condoning vandalism and drug use.
External links
- Green Party biography
- Nandor's website
- Tanczos agrees to be new Green MP. TVNZ, November 11, 2005.