Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support the IDS in College Media Madness! Donate here March 24 - April 8.
Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

arts

COLUMN: New Zealand will form coalition government, an example of compromise

On Saturday, I explored New Zealand's north island and raced on luges, which are like a combination of go-karts and sleds. New Zealanders, however, were in the process of selecting their new government.

Like in the United States, coverage of the election took place throughout the evening. In many ways, that is where the similarities end.

New Zealand's parliament has 120 seats, and, for any party to form a government, 61 seats are required. 

None of the parties were able to form that majority. The center-right party, National, secured 58 seats with 46 percent of the vote. Labour, the center-left party, garnered 45 seats with 35.8 percent of the vote. 

New Zealanders knew the election would be close because both National and Labour had been running side-by-side in polls. 

Labour's 37-year-old leader Jacinda Ardern brought her party close after replacing Labour's former leader in the last seven weeks of the campaign, but she could not come out of the election with a definite win over the incumbent Bill English and his National Party.

The election put the New Zealand First Party, with nine seats in Parliament, and their leader Winston Peters in the enviable position of "kingmaker" during the coalition negotiations. 

"In the next few days, we will begin negotiations with NZ First," English said in a 1 news now article. "We intend to form a strong, stable government."

When no party secures a majority in Parliament, it falls to the smaller parties to make up the difference. Parties work to form a coalition government through compromise, a concept I would like to think the United States could learn from, especially given these troubling and polarized times.

Peters has been described as an "unpredictable populist" by outlets like the Guardian. 

Does that description remind you of anyone from the U.S.? 

Well, it should, especially since in the next two or three weeks, Peters, like President Trump, will seek the best possible deal for himself and his party. 

While the negotiations will probably take several weeks, there are a few possibilities for what could happen.

The first, and possibly the simplest possibility, would be National and New Zealand First forming a coalition government for a 67-seat majority.

Another intriguing possibility, at least in my opinion, is the possibility of National forming a government with the Green Party for a 65-seat majority. 

While the Greens are certainly more leftist than National, a compromise along health or public transport policy doesn't seem horribly unlikely. 

However, Labour could possibly pull together both the Green Party and New Zealand First in a three-way coalition for a bare minimum 61-seat majority.

I think this is one of the more unlikely scenarious, as a three-way government would dilute the bargaining of any one group, but it all depends on how the wheeling and dealing over the next few weeks go.

All in all, the methodology behind coalitions and parliamentary government seems a little crazy to those of us from the States. For us, the choices are relatively simple because our two major parties are the only major players. 

However, we are also suffering from intense political polarization between those parties in the U.S. New Zealand and its need to form broad coalitions should be an example of compromise and bipartisanship for the U.S.

I can only hope exemplars like New Zealand are taken to heart by those looking to actually govern. 

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe