OMM Newsroom
New Zealand’s ruling coalition has secured a narrow majority in the general election, although the final result depends on special votes still to be counted, according to Anadolu Agency, citing local media.
The National-led coalition won 67 of the 131 seats, putting it on course to govern for a second consecutive term, the NZ Herald reported. The opposition bloc, made up of the Labour Party, the Green Party and the Māori Party, secured 57 seats.
At least 66 seats are needed to hold a parliamentary majority. However, the tally could change after 700,000 special votes are counted. These include ballots cast by overseas voters and people voting outside their electorates, and were not included in the preliminary results.
The special votes are considered to favour the left. The Election Commission is scheduled to publish the final official results, including those ballots, on November 27.
The contest between the National and Labour parties remained exceptionally close, with each winning more than 29% of the vote.
The commission’s count across all voting places resulted in 11 “overhang” seats, increasing the total number of parliamentary seats from 120 to 131.
Addressing supporters in Auckland, former prime minister and National Party leader Christophe Luxon said the election was “too close to call” until the special votes had been counted. He said “negotiations and compromise” would be needed to form the next government.
New Zealand has nearly 3.8 million enrolled voters. The country elects its parliament under a mixed-member proportional voting system, in which voters cast two ballots: one for a political party and another for a candidate in their local electorate. The system usually results in a government formed by two or more parliamentary parties.
