NZ PM presses to form coalition government

Bloomberg

New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English has claimed a mandate to form the next government after winning the biggest slice of the vote in Saturday’s election, even as opposition leader Jacinda Ardern refuses to concede defeat.
While English’s ruling National Party fell short of a majority and will need the support of the nationalist New Zealand First Party to govern, it got 46 percent of the vote compared to 35.8 percent for Ardern’s Labour Party.
She would need to engineer a three-way coalition also involving the Green Party to oust English from office. “With a 10-point lead over the Labour Party, we’re in a pretty strong position,” English told media in Auckland Sunday. “We want to set about forming a strong and stable government with a reasonable majority in the house.”
The final outcome now rests with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, a 72-year-old maverick who could support either side and can be expected to extract a high price for
his backing.
Negotiations could last several weeks, extending the period of uncertainty around the election that has unsettled financial markets, but analysts said any fears of radical change had been allayed by National’s strong performance.
English, 55, is seeking a rare fourth term for his party, which has delivered eight consecutive years of economic growth and returned the budget to surplus during nine years in power.