NZ’s ruling Labour Party set to form government

By Gyles Beckford

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand’s ruling Labour Party
claimed victory over its conservative National opposition and
looked set to form the next government after final results from
a close election were released on Saturday.

Prime Minister Helen Clark’s Labour had 41 percent of the
vote compared with 39 percent for National when the results
were declared official after the counting of more than 200,000
absentee and overseas votes.

Clark said she would now get on with the job of forming the
next government.

“I am very pleased with the result. I am very pleased we
have been able to hold our support from the last election.
There is a lot of talking to do over the next few days,” the NZ
Press Association quoted her as saying.

Labour will have 50 seats in a 121-seat parliament to 48
for National, and will now resume moves to form a coalition
government with support from minor parties.

The number of seats won by Labour is unchanged from the
September 17 election, but National have slipped back one after
the final tally of votes by New Zealand electoral officials.

National’s leader, former central bank governor Don Brash,
had refused to concede defeat on election night given the
closeness of the vote, but now accepted it had lost.

“The special votes did not improve National’s chances of
forming the next government, indeed they made those prospects
slightly worse,” Brash told reporters.

National almost doubled the vote it won in 2002, but took
votes away from minor center-right parties with which it might
have been able to form a coalition.

TIME TO TALK

Clark said she hoped forming a new government would not be
“unduly delayed,” but she would not put a deadline on it
because she did not want to pressure potential allies.

Among the important minor parties, New Zealand First was
confirmed with seven seats, the Greens with six, the Maori
Party four, United Future three, ACT two, and the Progressives
one.

Labour has governed in a minority coalition with the
Progressives for the past three years with support on key
financial and confidence measures from United Future.

It has already had preliminary talks with five of the minor
parties seen as potential allies.

The left-leaning Greens are a natural ally for Labour,
while New Zealand First has pledged to support whichever party
won the most votes. The two parties have 13 seats between them.

“The silver lining from the result is that it does confirm
that Helen Clark will be the next Prime Minister and that she
will be able to put together a strong stable government,” said
Greens co-leader Rod Donald, adding they would resume talks
with Labour next week with “all options on the table.”

NZ First has expressed reservations about the Greens being
in government, which could see Labour sticking with a minority
coalition and getting agreement with minor parties on key
measures.

National’s Brash, who has just turned 65 and only been in
parliament three years, said Clark’s administration could be
unstable and he expected to lead his party into the next
election.

“This government faces very difficult circumstances, they
haven’t got a very strong mandate from the public. If they are
successful in forming a government they will be cobbling
together a government dependent on at least three, possibly
four, other parties.”