The Cook Islands National Party was a political party in the Cook Islands. The party was launched on 24 March 2003 by

Teariki Heather Teariki William Heather (born 30 July 1959) is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet minister who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 2013 to 2018. Previously a member of the Cook Islands Party, he is now the leader of ...

, a Rarotonga businessman. Its policies included a shorter parliamentary term. In July 2003 the party sought a declaratory judgement from the High Court that the seats of MPs

Norman George Norman George (born 2 July 1946) is a Cook Islands politician and former Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister, and Cabinet Minister. George was first elected to the Parliament of the Cook Islands in 1983. He represented ...

and Paora Teiti were vacant after it was learned that the two were being paid as government consultants. The court subsequently ruled that the consultancy work did not constitute holding a position in the public service, and both retained their seats. Heather contested the

2003 Rua'au by-election The Rua'au by-election was a by-election in the Cook Islands seat of Rua'au. It took place on 14 August 2003, and was precipitated by the death of Democratic Party MP Maria Heather. Three candidates contested the by-election: the Democratic Par ...

as a National Party candidate, but was unsuccessful. The party was disbanded in February 2004 when Heather joined the

Cook Islands Party The Cook Islands Party is a nationalist political party in the Cook Islands. It was the first political party founded in the Cook Islands, and one of the two major parties of the islands' politics since 1965. From 1999 until 2005 it sometimes ...

References

Political parties established in 2003 Defunct political parties in the Cook Islands *Main {{CookIslands-stub