Not that anyone noticed, but there was another election this week. Well, today. New Zealand, those lovely people who brought you Flight of the Conchords, have voted to eject Helen Clarke's Labour Party after nine years in power. With 90% (!) voter turnout, they have elected the main opposition party, the centre-right Nationalist Party, into power.
As in America, the faltering economy played a huge role. And the National Party's leader, John Kay, sought to ride the Obama-led wave of change. And he did.
Proof of just how inter-connected we all are. As if we needed anymore. Had I not moved to Britain, where it seems most Kiwis live these days, this election would not have made it onto my radar. But they shared in my elation, as I now do in theirs.
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2 comments:
It's been an exciting couple of days here thanks to both your election and their own. But thanks to a complicated mixed member proportional system no party really wins and there is always a moderate coalition government with a strong opposition that keeps them in check.
When you compare it with the US it's incredibly dull! I'm surprised you even heard about it over there.
I have many NZ friends who brought it to my attention. Your comment suggests that the opposition is always stronger, in protest, than the gov't. Not knowing much about NZ politics,and coming from a two party system, why is a multi-party moderate system a good thing?
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