John Key set to form NZ Government after election winJohn Key set to
form NZ Government after election win
NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand’s Prime Minister-elect John Key started work
Sunday to form a new government after his centre-right National Party
swept to victory in national elections.
Key will form a government with the support of the small conservative
parties ACT and United Future after a big swing on Saturday against
Helen Clark’s Labour Party.
New Zealand’s three million voters showed a clear desire for change,
bringing the curtain down on Clark’s nine years in power.
Key told reporters late Saturday he was confident he and deputy Bill
English could successfully tackle the fallout of the global economic
crisis.
“I’m very confident we can work our way through it. I’m very
confident about our policies, our positions,” he said after his victory
speech to jubilant supporters in Auckland.
“It will be pretty tough in the next year.”
The National Party won 45.5 percent of the vote, or 59 seats in the
122-seat Parliament. Key will have a majority with the support of allies
the right-wing ACT Party with five seats and one more from United
Future’s Peter Dunne.
Key said he would meet ACT leader Rodney Hide and Dunne on Monday but
it was not immediately clear whether the three parties would form a
formal coalition or a looser alliance.
The 47-year-old former investment banker with a fortune estimated at
50 million dollars (29 million US) said he also wanted to form a
relationship with the Maori Party, which represents the interests of New
Zealand’s indigenous population.
Wellington, Sunday, AFP |
