After weeks of talks and political uncertainty, the National Party of New Zealand, ACT New Zealand, and New Zealand First have come to an agreement to form a government, leaving the nation under a caretaker administration.
According to reports, the right-wing ACT New Zealand and the populist New Zealand First parties were required to support the center-right National Party in order for them to form a majority government, despite the party receiving the greatest percentage of votes in the general election held on October 14.
The three parties had to reach a consensus on a political agenda for the next three years and assign ministerial positions, which caused the negotiations to drag on.
Both NZ First’s Winston Peters and Act’s David Seymour confirmed negotiations had concluded.
The conservative National Party won over voters by promising relief for struggling middle-income New Zealanders, and bringing historically high inflation under control while reducing the country’s debt.
It is expected to announce plans to return the central bank to a single mandate of targeting inflation of 1% to 3%.
The formation of the new coalition government will bring to an end six years of left-wing government led by Labour, it lost support with many New Zealanders disgruntled over the country’s long COVID-19 lockdown and the rising cost of living.
Report says New Zealand operates a mixed-member proportional system, which means coalition governments are the norm and historically it takes roughly a month for a government to be formed but can take longer.
A detailed breakdown of the new government’s policy agenda is expected to be released Friday. Ministerial appointments are also expected to be announced then.
