What’s Next for New Zealand After Its Stalemate Election

New Zealanders will face days if not weeks of uncertainty after Saturday’s election failed to deliver a clear winner and left a small, anti-immigration party holding the balance of power. Both Prime Minister Bill English and main opposition leader Jacinda Ardern must woo the populist New Zealand First Party -- whose chief, Winston Peters, is in no rush to make a decision. With the most seats and largest share of the vote, English should be in pole position to form a government. But Peters is an unpredictable maverick, and anything could happen in closed-door talks over the next couple of weeks.

Kiwis are actually taking it all in their stride and are used to such horse-trading. The nation uses a German-style voting system called Mixed Member Proportional, designed to end the dominance of the two main parties and make parliament more representative. The system has worked. Since MMP was introduced in 1996, neither National nor Labour has won an outright majority -- allowing smaller players such as the Green Party, the Maori Party and New Zealand First a stronger voice. Peters has been kingmaker before, backing a National government in 1996 and Labour in 2005. There’s no obligation for Peters to give English first crack at forming a government.