New Zealand general election, early vote counting, close race between right-wing ruling party and left-wing opposition party

There is no single majority… Negotiations to form a coalition government are inevitable.

(Hanoi = Yonhap News) Correspondent Park Jin-hyung = Early vote counting results in the New Zealand general election held on the 7th (local time) show that the ruling center-right People's Party and the main opposition center-left Labor Party are engaged in a fierce battle.

However, since there is no single party with a majority of votes, the establishment of a coalition government is expected to be inevitable for either the left or right.

According to the New Zealand Election Commission on this day, with 40.1% of the votes counted, the Labor Party won 29.74% of the votes and the National Party won 29.40% of the votes.

This was followed by the progressive Green Party with 13.97%, the conservative Action Party with 10.62%, the right-wing populist New Zealand First Party with 9.40%, and the centrist Opportunity Party with 5.46%.

The vote rate of the three-party right-wing coalition of the existing ruling forces, the People's Party, the Action Party, and the New Zealand First Party, was 49.42%, slightly falling short of the majority needed to establish a government.

The Labor Party and the Green Party, which are likely to form a coalition, won 43.71%, but the possibility of achieving a majority if the Opportunity Party and others are brought in cannot be ruled out.

If the right-wing coalition loses power, it will be the first government in New Zealand's modern political history to be short-lived after completing only a three-year first term, Reuters reported.

If the Opportunity Party, founded in 2016, exceeds the 5% vote rate required to enter the National Assembly, there is a possibility that it will secure its first seat and play the role of a 'kingmaker' in the process of forming the next government.

The final election results, including overseas voter voting, will be confirmed on the 27th.

Moreover, as the results of this election are very close, it is expected that it will take time for the outlines of the next government to be revealed.

When asked about the possibility of the right-wing coalition coming back to power, Action Party leader David Seymour said, "It will take some time for the situation to become clear."