AUCKLAND — On July 27, New Zealand's third general election held under the mixed member proportional representation (MMP) electoral system election was held. The campaign was notable for the few issues raised and failed to ignite the imagination of the people. Voters duly responded by deserting the ballot box. About one in four did not vote.

The Labour Party remained the largest party in parliament, although it will have to negotiate the formation of a government with the minor parties. Labour took 41% of the party vote and has 52 seats (up from 49 in the last parliament) in the 120-seat parliament.

The big losers were the left-leaning Alliance, which previously held 10 seats but failed to win a single seat in this election, and the largest of the conservative parties, the National Party, which received just 21% of the party vote and 27 seats, its worst election result ever.

Prior to the election, the Alliance, which was in a coalition with Labour to govern New Zealand, suffered a massive split over the decision by most of its MPs to support New Zealand's participation in the US war in Afghanistan. Alliance parliamentary leader and outgoing deputy prime minister Jim Anderton jumped ship to form a new party, modestly called Jim Anderton's Progressive Coalition. Anderton managed to retain his constituency seat and garnered 1.75% of the party vote, gaining his group another MP.

The Greens improved their parliamentary representation from seven seats in the previous parliament to eight this time. The Greens won 6.5% of the party vote. Special votes are still to be counted and the Greens co-leader Rod Donald is hopeful that they might give the party one more seat.

The Greens got the best of the early campaign with their firm stance against genetically engineered crops. The Greens demanded that Labour extend the moratorium on the commercial release of genetically engineered organisms (including crops, animals and micro-organisms) into the environment as a precondition for Greens' support for the formation of a Labour-led government. During the campaign, Greens' support in the polls jumped from about 7% to 13% very quickly.

Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark took an equally defiant stance against the Greens' demands and her party's support rose to more than 55% in the polls at the same time.

The Alliance, under its new leader Laila Harre, ran a campaign promoting its policies of free health care and education. Harre stood in the mainly working-class seat of Waitakere. In the end, Harre lost the seat to Labour by just 2000 votes; the Alliance failed to gain the 5% required for an MP via the proportional representation component of MMP.

Three small right-wing parties managed collectively to garner 25% of the party vote and will have 31 MPs. The anti-immigrant NZ First, led by Winston Peters, now has 13 MPs. The self-styled “family values” party United Future, led by former Labour MP Peter Dunn won nine MPs. The right-wing monetarist party, Richard Prebble's, also has nine MPs.

Labour, with the assistance of Jim Anderton's party, will attempt to form a minority government. It will seek the support of one or more of the minor parties to get its legislation through parliament.

It appears that the Greens will not be part of the next government, but the minority Labour government will be dependent on them to get much of its legislation passed. This may leave the Greens in a stronger position for the next election than if they join the government.

The Nationals are now looking for someone to blame for its poor showing and party president Michelle Boag is the target. She will not be the National Party president by the end of the month.

Discussions are now underway for the formation of a new pan-Maori party to encompass the various Maori parties and Maori leaders. If this happens, the Maori party Mana Motuhake will withdraw from the Alliance.

The challenge now for the members of the Alliance is to operate outside the parliamentary framework, if it is to have a real impact on the lives of working New Zealanders. What was on the surface a rather unremarkable and dull election may yet have consequences which change the political landscape of New Zealand.

From Green Left Weekly, August 7, 2002.
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