Mana leader Hone Harawira is accusing National and New Zealand First of ganging up on him to oust him from his seat.
Hone Harawira in the Radio New Zealand Auckland Newsroom 15 September 2014. Photo: RNZ Kim Baker Wilson
The parties have endorsed Labour candidate Kelvin Davis in the Te Tai Tokerau electorate. Neither is standing a candidate in the seat. Mr Harawira said people in the electorate should not let a gang of political parties tell them who to vote for.
A poll shows Mr Harawira just one point ahead of Mr Davis.
If the Mana leader Harawira failed to hold Te Tai Tokerau, it could mean no candidates from the Internet Mana alliance would get seats in Parliament.
Both National leader John Key and New Zealand First's Winston Peters yesterday endorsed the Labour candidate.
Mr Peters accuses Mr Harawira of selling out his people by linking up with Internet Party founder Kim Dotcom.
"I'm from up north and I see the need to have some consistently strong and Northland voice, that is speaking in the interests of this province that has been largely Cinderella-ised, marginalised and forgotten."
Mr Key said the Labour candidate was the better one.
"You saw Winston Peters saying if he could vote up there he'd vote for Kelvin Davis -- so would we.
"My experience of Kelvin Davis in Parliament is he's been a much stronger performer than Hone Harawira.
"But in the end it'll be for the voters of Te Tai Tokerau to decide. It's not an area where National has a huge amount of support, we're not running a candidate."
Mr Harawira told Morning Report a vote for him is a vote for three more list MPs to help change the government.
"I'm calling on the voters of Tai Tokerau to hold fast in their mana and not be dictated to by those who have ganged together to tell them how to vote, to respond to them in a strongest way possible, make sure they get all of their whanau out in the next 48 hours and vote for me."
