New Zealand’s opposition Labour Party and its ally the Greens gained two seats in final election results, strengthening their hand in talks to form the next government.
Labour won 46 seats, one more than the preliminary count indicated after the Sept. 23 vote, while the Greens lifted their tally to eight from seven, the Electoral Commission said Saturday in Wellington. The ruling National Party fell to 56 seats from 58 on election night.
The nationalist New Zealand First Party, which was unchanged on nine seats and holds the balance of power, must now decide whether to support a National or Labour-led government. While National remains the biggest party, the additional seats for Labour and the Greens mean a three-party coalition with New Zealand First would be more stable than first results suggested.
Between them, the three parties can now muster 63 of the 120 seats in parliament, a more comfortable majority than the initial 61 and only two fewer than a National-New Zealand First partnership.
“It’s game on,” said political analyst Bryce Edwards. “There are only two seats separating the center-left and the center-right now, so the idea of a moral mandate for National is going to have much less sway.”
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has been waiting for the final results -- which include 446,000 special votes, or 17 percent of the total -- before entering formal coalition talks with National and Labour and deciding which side to support. He has said he expects to reach a decision by Oct.
Fourth Term?
Prime Minister Bill English, 55, is seeking a rare fourth term for his National Party, which has delivered eight consecutive years of economic growth and returned the budget to surplus during nine years in power. But a strong challenge from Labour under 37-year-old Jacinda Ardern has highlighted growing concerns about poverty, homelessness and the environment which the new government will need to address.
The final election results confirm that voters want National to lead the next government and “we will now get on with the job of trying to give effect to their wishes,” English said in a statement Saturday. “I look forward to engaging with Mr Peters and New Zealand First over the coming days to achieve that.”
Ardern, on the other hand, said the final count “strengthened the mandate for change” because a majority voted against the status quo.
“This reinforces the mandate for negotiations to form a stable, durable and progressive Labour-led government, a government I would be proud to lead,” she said.
Proportional System
New Zealand’s German-style electoral system is conducive to coalitions and allows any grouping that can attain a majority to govern. Still, if Peters decides to anoint a Labour-led administration, it would be the first time since proportional representation was introduced in 1996 that the party with the largest share of the vote is excluded from government.4 percent of the vote to Labour’s 36. When combined with the Greens’ 6.3 percent, the center-left bloc won 43.
Peters could elect to remain outside government by sitting on the cross benches and supporting a minority National government on confidence and supply, former Prime Minister Jim Bolger said last week. He noted the Oct. 12 deadline Peters has set for a deal to be struck.
“It’s almost impossible to see a detailed coalition agreement hammered out in that time,” Bolger told Radio New Zealand. “That suggests very strongly that he and New Zealand First are leaning towards sitting on the cross benches.
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