Coalition Govts more likely, chairman admits

Press, 17 December 1986, Page 1

Coalition Govts more likely, chairman admits

The Mixed Member Proportional Representation voting system, assuming a 120-seat House, would have produced a coalition Government in 1984. Labour would have won 52 seats, National 44, Social Credit nine, and the New Zealand Party 15.

The chairman of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System, Mr Justice Wallace, acknowledged at a press conference to launch the report yesterday that coalitions would become more likely in New Zealand under M.M.P. They would not become inevitable, however, especially if the decline of the minor parties continued. He ventured also that even if coalitions did result, they might fulfil a useful Constitutional role in reining the power of the Executive. Asked how confident the commission was of getting the support of Labour and National for its recommendations, he said it had no way of predicting their response but conceded that they might be "influenced” by the greater weight M.M.P. would give smaller parties.

The Government’s immediate reaction yesterday was cautious. The Acting Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, said the review was well researched and deserved careful study, but he avoided making any commitments. He was “quite sure” it would not please all politicians. Public debate should be allowed to ebb and flow before any entrenched positions were taken.

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, was more forthcoming. He said that if the proposals were adopted the New Zealand political system would be turned on its head.

He was not satisfied that the commission had identified sufficient defects in the present structure to warrant such a radical departure from it.

Proposed party lists of candidates would transfer electoral power from the voter to the parties because they would not only select the list candidates but rank them.

Mr Bolger welcomed the acknowledgement that separate Maori seats were no longer appropriate but said this could be dealt with simply by Labour following National’s lead and selecting Maoris to contest winnable electorates.

His main objection, however, was to the M.M.P. recommendation which, he said, would make coalition Governments the “norm” with all the risks of political instability which he said they entailed.

The Democratic Party’s response was enthusiastic. It has long advocated proportional representation and its president, Mr Stefan Lipa, described the report as an excellent document, saying it enshrined the main thrust of the Democrats’ submissions.

Whether the Government acted on the recommendations would be a test of its credibility, Mr Palmer’s, and the Labour Party’s, Mr Lipa said.