By Elishya Perera
AUCKLAND (CWBN)_ Crowds celebrated on the street outside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Auckland home as her Labour Party swept to an extraordinary victory in New Zealand’s General Elections on Saturday and made history as the first party to claim an outright majority in the 120-seat Parliament. With 98.5% of results counted, Labour is on track to win 64 seats and 49% of the popular vote, while the National Party came in a distant second with a probable 35 seats and 26.9% of the ballots.
ACT New Zealand obtained 8% and is likely to win 10 seats; the Green Party 7.6% and 10 seats; and the Maori Party 1 seat by polling 1%.
The General Election held today was New Zealand’s 53rd election and the seventh one conducted under the Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system that was introduced in 1996. The MMP tends to produce coalition governments since a single political party has not been able to secure an overall majority in the legislature thus far. Therefore, many parties believed that the Labour party would be forming a coalition government with the Green party this year. However, for the first time since the system was introduced, the Labour Party obtained the numbers to win outright and secure a majority.
Addressing her supporters at the Auckland Town Hall, the newly re-elected Prime Minister said she had two simple words for New Zealanders: ‘Thank you’. “Tonight New Zealand has shown the Labour Party the greatest support in at least 50 years. I cannot imagine a people I would feel more privileged to work on behalf of and alongside and to be Prime Minister for,” Arden said.
The leader of the opposition, and the current leader of the National Party, Judith Collins, congratulated Ardern on the “outstanding results” on Saturday night. Meanwhile, former National Party leader Simon Bridges also shared his thoughts on what has been a disastrous night for the National party. “It’s grim. I can’t think of a worse night except for possibly 2002 – but look, it’s grim,” he said.
Labour’s strong lead began early in the night, and as the hours passed the party continued to be in total control. The remarkable victory suggests New Zealanders had rewarded Arden for her deft handling of the pandemic, which has so far spared the country the worst of Covid-19.
The darling of most New Zealanders and a role model for millions of women around the world, Jacinda Ardern became the country’s most popular Prime Minister in a century according to opinion polls, attracting headlines for being the youngest individual to hold her office and for giving birth while leading a country.
During the three years of her term, Ardern, the once small-town takeout store worker, has been widely praised for her strong and compassionate leadership. She won the hearts of the nation for her empathetic handling of the Christchurch mosque attacks, and recently, her swift, effective action against the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of which, according to global business leaders, has been the best in the world.
During her first term, she banned future oil and gas exploration, increased paid parental leave, raised the minimum wage, and increased benefits for the most deprived New Zealanders.
However, she was criticised for failing to deliver certain key policies during her first term, as she scrapped a proposed capital gains tax, and made minimal headway on child poverty. She defended her progressive record on Friday, telling an interviewer that change would not happen overnight. “I am not finished yet,” she told Radio New Zealand. “I take some flattery in the idea that I would resolve a decades-long problem in three years, but I can’t”.
Opposition leader Collins is a tough veteran politician. Nevertheless, her upbeat energy appeared to flag in the final week of the campaign as her defeat looked ever more certain. She spoke dismissively of the prime minister’s offer of what Collins called “love and a hug” to her constituents, as Collins claimed that she would provide “hope and a job”. But her attacks on Ardern do not seem to have resonated with voters.
In addition to the election, New Zealanders also voted on two referendums; on proposals to legalise cannabis and euthanasia. Polls suggested that the cannabis poll is likely to fail, while the End Of Life Choice ballot had popular support. The preliminary referendum results will be released on Friday 30th October.
Edited by Niresh Eliatamby
