New Zealand's English Seeks to Form Government With N.Z. First

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: Bloomberg

National Party leader Bill English said he will start negotiations with a small anti-immigration party in an attempt to form New Zealand’s next government, after failing to win an outright majority in Saturday’s election.

Addressing a rally of supporters in Auckland, English said he will seek to find “common ground” with the New Zealand First Party and its leader Winston Peters, with the intention of securing a fourth term in office.

He won’t get a clear run, however. Opposition Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern is also seeking talks with Peters and has not conceded defeat. For his part, the wily 72-year-old Peters has said he won’t rush into a decision.

With preliminary vote counting almost finished, English stressed that National had won more seats than Labour and its ally the Greens combined, and was in the strongest position to take office.



Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-23/new-zealand-s-english-seeks-to-form-government-with-n-z-first

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Winston Peters: who is the man who will decide New Zealand's next prime minister?

Verbose, frequently belligerent and engaged in a long-term love/hate affair with the media, Peters relies on the support of working-class voters and frequently stokes fears that foreigners are stealing New Zealand jobs.

“If you examine New Zealand as it once was a country, compared to where it is now all these years on against the rest of the world, you’d have to admit we’ve done very, very badly,” Peters said this week.
...
Peters is against taxing water – a key Labour campaign promise – and has promoted a police squad to crack down on gangs, a pledge that overlaps with National’s tough stance on drugs and crime. This could push him and his party closer to a deal with English.
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But expect immigration to be a key one. “The government deludes the public these migrants are skilled – it’s a myth, most of them are unskilled and drawn to this country in many cases by the generosity of our social services,” Peters said this week.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/23/winston-peters-who-is-new-zealand-first-election

Sounds bad if a man like that gets huge influence.

[saidsimplesimon]

1. This is very bad news.

Mad Cow Disease of the political variety is spreading.

[They_Live]

2. Ugh. That's terrible.

coming out of the woodwork.

[jpak]

3. Wonder what the Maori think about and "anti-immigration" party?

[suffragette]

4. Scary to see someone like that in such a powerful position.