New Zealanders won't know for weeks who won the election as neither side secures clear victory

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Nov 8, (AP): New Zealanders will wait for weeks to discover who will lead the country after Saturday’s election failed to deliver a decisive win for the right or the left, leaving fraught negotiations for a wafer-thin governing majority the only apparent path to victory for either side.

The tightest vote in years delivered a stinging rebuke to the major parties which have long dominated New Zealand politics, Christopher Luxon's center-right National party and center-left Labour led by Chris Hipkins, as voters threw more support behind minor parties on the ideological flanks than before.

On Saturday's numbers, minor parties would enter negotiations for a governing deal with leverage to extract deeper policy concessions from a weakened National or Labour. The near-deadlock was partly produced because voters, apparently weary of New Zealand's economic woes and apathetic about both Luxon and Hipkins, chose to propel a new entrant group to Parliament for the first time in years.

Opportunity, led by 38-year-old business consultant and political newcomer Qiulae Wong, is unaligned with either bloc and Wong has said she could work with either side to form a government. Wong's pledges of evidence-based centrism and an end to partisan bickering had on Saturday's results secured seven seats for Opportunity - enough to frustrate both left and right in a simple path to power.

It was a staggering ascension for a party that made three failed attempts at Parliament before Wong became leader less than a year ago. Other winners were harder to identify and on Sunday, "who won the election 2026” was the top trending Google search in New Zealand. So unclear was the result that parties won’t begin negotiations to form a government until final tallies are released on Nov 27, confirming the exact number of seats they’ve won.

With 2.8 million ballots counted on election night, the conservative incumbent government led by Luxon's National party appeared close to the slimmest possible return to power - by just one seat. However, Luxon didn't claim victory, instead striking a note of cautious optimism that he could negotiate a second term in power.

Speaking to reporters Sunday, Luxon blamed public dissatisfaction on global shocks which have buffeted New Zealand's trade-based economy, noting that other incumbent governments worldwide have faced voters' rancor over living costs. Yet his opponent Hipkins, who was turfed from office in 2023 largely over discontent about the same economic issues, didn't appear to benefit on Saturday.