New Zealand general election voting begins... ‘Right-wing’ ruling party and ‘left-wing’ opposition party expected to compete closely

It seems difficult to achieve a single majority… Prospects for negotiations on forming a coalition government

(Hanoi = Yonhap News) Correspondent Park Jin-hyung = Voting for the general election in New Zealand to decide the government that will lead national affairs for the next three years began on the 7th (local time).

Voting will be held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on this day at over 2,300 polling stations across New Zealand to form a parliament with a basic quota of 120 seats. If excess seats occur depending on the election results, the actual number of lawmakers may increase.

Of the total 3.79 million registered voters, excluding 1.6 million who have already voted in the early voting that began on the 26th of last month and 126,000 overseas voters, the remaining voters are visiting polling places on this day.

This general election will be held between the ruling center-right National Party, led by current Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, and the opposition center-left Labor Party, led by former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.

As the issue of people's livelihoods caused by rising prices, including oil, has emerged as the biggest issue in the election, the National Party is promoting a pledge to suppress tax increases and revitalize the economy, and the Labor Party is promoting policies to reduce the burden of living expenses, such as a cap on public transportation fares.

Until recently, public opinion polls showed that the People's Party and the Labor Party had almost equal approval ratings, so it is expected that it will be difficult for any party to secure a majority of seats to form a government on its own.

Therefore, there is a high possibility that complex negotiations to form a coalition government will follow depending on the vote results of other parties, such as the conservative Action Party, the right-wing populist New Zealand First Party, the progressive Green Party, and the centrist Opportunity Party.

Once voting is over, the results of the vote count will be released sequentially, and the final election results, including overseas voter votes, are expected to be confirmed on the 27th.

Meanwhile, New Zealand prohibits any activities that may influence voting, such as campaigning, announcing opinion polls, or interviewing voters, on the day of the general election voting, and imposes a fine of up to 20,000 New Zealand dollars (about 15.11 million won) for violations.