New Zealand's Maori Party may hold key to general elections

New Zealand's indigenous Maori minority went into elections Saturday inspired by Barack Obama's victory in the United States and with a chance of securing the balance of power at home. Obama's election this week as the United States' first African-American president reverberated across the world as a triumph over old stereotypes, a chord that rang especially true for minority groups. "This is like the dream of Martin Luther King, having Barack Obama become president," said Pita Sharples, co-leader of the Maori Party, New Zealand's only all-indigenous political party. "And I think that's a message to the whole world, that we can build on our past and move forward. I think America has done that." Maori account for 15 percent of New Zealand's 3.4 million population and are its poorest, worst-housed and least-healthy citizens, suffering higher unemployment and crime rates than most others.