WELLINGTON – The ongoing New Zealand election vote counts showed the ruling Labor Party won a landslide victory on Saturday, with Jacinda Ardern set to serve a second term as prime minister, reported Xinhua news agency citing the preliminary results.
With more than 98 per cent of the votes counted, the Labor Party won 49 per cent of the vote, which transfer to 64 seats in the 120-member Congress in a Mixed-Member Proportional voting system, with the opposition National Party lagging behind at 27 per cent, or 35 seats, according to the Electoral Commission.
Ardern thanked her supporters, saying the work started tomorrow (Oct 18). National Party leader Judith Collins conceded defeat.
Meanwhile, Collins said she promises the National Party “will be a robust opposition” to push the government to do better for New Zealanders.
“We will take time to reflect and we will review and we will change,” she said, adding the National Party will “reemerge from this loss a stronger, disciplined and more connected party.”
New Zealanders went to the polls on Saturday for the 2020 General Election and referendums, which were postponed by almost a month due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Auckland, the country’s largest city.
Preliminary referendum results will be released on Oct 30, and the official results of the election and referendums will be released on Nov 6, according to the Electoral Commission.
— BERNAMA
