New Zealand gets hung parliament

The future of New Zealand’s new government has been put in the hands of Winston Peters, a cantankerous, anti-immigration politician who prefers fishing to politics, after vote counting finished in the general election, the Guardian reports. Neither of the major parties – National, led by the incumbent prime minister, Bill English, or Jacinda Ardern’s Labour – secured enough seats to form a majority government in a frustrating poll on Saturday. National secured 46% of the vote, giving it 58 seats in parliament, while Labour took home 35.8% and 45 seats. Both parties were scrambling to form coalitions with the minor parties in order to reach 61 seats and the ability to govern in the 120-seat parliament. Peters, the unpredictable leader of the populist New Zealand (NZ) First party, became kingmaker after gaining 7.5% of the vote and nine seats, although not his own seat of Northland. The 72-year-old lawyer made a teasing statement to the media about his intentions before rushing to board the last ferry home on Saturday night. The official election results – including special votes, such as those cast overseas and by people outside their home constituency – will not be known for two weeks. It is not out of the question that negotiations between Peters and the major parties could continue until the second week of October. NZ First has previously worked with both major parties, entering into a coalition with National after the 1996 election, with Peters serving as deputy prime minister, and forming a confidence-and-supply agreement with Labour in 2005, which saw him appointed foreign minister. But he is a controversial figure in New Zealand politics. In 1996 he campaigned to close borders to what he called the “Asian invasion”, and since then he has continued to call for a crackdown on immigration, which he says is the cause of New Zealand’s housing and social problems. To move towards 61 seats, National can count on the support of David Seymour, the sole MP elected for ACT, a rightwing libertarian party. But another National ally, the Maori party, faced electoral wipeout, failing to meet the threshold to win a place in parliament, and losing the seats of its two co-leaders, Te Ururoa Flavel and Marama Fox.