New Zealand Faces a Three-Week Wait for a Government: Coalition Holds 67 Seats, One Above the Majority Line, With the Final Result Due November 27

New Zealanders faced weeks of uncertainty on Sunday, November 8, over who will govern the country after their general election, with the current coalition holding a slim majority but a potentially decisive slice of votes still to count.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's National Party and its partners ACT and New Zealand First were on track for 67 of the currently projected 131-seat parliament, Electoral Commission preliminary results of Saturday's vote showed. Sixty-six seats are needed for a majority — a margin of just one seat.

But special votes, around 14% of the total, remain to be counted, the commission said. These — including ballots from overseas New Zealanders and people voting outside their electorates — have historically favored the left. They will be announced with the final count on November 27. Until a coalition to govern New Zealand for the next three years is formed, Mr. Luxon will head a caretaker government.

Neither the prime minister nor opposition leader Chris Hipkins of the Labour Party claimed victory in their speeches following the election. "I've been saying it's going to be a very tight election — it has definitely proven to be that. We unfortunately don't know what that means for another three weeks," Mr. Luxon told a press conference, but added that on current numbers it was "quite feasible" that National could build a government with its current partners.

If the National-led coalition loses its majority at the official count, either it or a left-leaning coalition would require the support of the centrist Opportunity Party, which looks likely to enter parliament for the first time. Mr. Luxon, who had repeatedly ruled out working with Opportunity, softened his stance on Sunday, refusing to again rule the party out and instead saying it would be entirely appropriate to build a relationship with Opportunity, without defining it.

The popular vote shares for National and Labour were each below 30%, their lowest since New Zealand adopted the mixed-member proportional system in 1996, under which people vote for both a party and a local constituency candidate. Of the projected 131 seats, 71 are constituency seats and 60 are party list seats. National's low popular vote means the party is set to lose several senior lawmakers in the next parliament, including Finance Minister Nicola Willis, who remains in the role for the next four weeks.

Source: New Zealand Electoral Commission

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：新西兰惠灵顿国会大厦与「蜂巢」行政大楼（资料图）。照片：Daderot，经 Wikimedia Commons（CC0）。 / Photo: Parliament House and the Beehive in Wellington, New Zealand (file photo). Daderot, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

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