• Source:JND
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Golriz Ghahraman Resignation: 43-year-old Parliamentarian from New Zealand Green Party, Golriz Ghahraman, on Monday tendered her resignation from the post amid a probe by the police over allegations that she had shoplifted at high-end local boutiques on at least three occasions. Ghahraman, in a statement, cited mental health issues and work stress as the reason behind her decision.

Without addressing the accusations against her, Golriz Ghahraman, who is the first refugee to be elected to New Zealand's Parliament, said that her work stress and mental health issues have "led to her acting in a way that was completely out of character". "I am not trying to excuse my actions, but I do want to explain them," she said in a statement.

"The mental health professional I see says my recent behaviour is consistent with recent events giving rise to extreme stress response, and relating to previously unrecognised trauma," the statement read.

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"People should, rightly, expect the highest standards of behaviour from their elected representatives. I fell short. I am sorry. It's not a behaviour I can explain because it's not rational in any way, and after medical evaluation, I understand I'm not well," Ghahraman, an MP from the centre-left Green Party added.

According to local media reports, the Iranian-born MP, who was a human rights lawyer earlier and has been in parliament since 2017, is accused of shoplifting at Scotties Boutique in Ponsonby, Auckland, and Cre8iveworkz in Wellington. New Zealand Police said that they were probing an incident at a Ponsonby store in December but would not give any other details. They did not confirm the incident involved Ghahraman.

Green Party co-leader James Shaw said that while parliament was a stressful place for everybody, Ghahraman had a particularly difficult time as she had received numerous threats from members of the public since arriving in office. "Golriz herself has been subject to pretty much continuous threats of sexual violence, physical violence, death threats, since the day she was elected," Shaw said, as quoted by AFP.

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"Obviously, if you're living with that level of threat in what is already quite a stressful situation then there are going to be consequences. So I have a lot of empathy for the fact that she has identified that she is in a state of extreme mental distress," he added.


(With Reuters, AFP Inputs)