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Governments misbehave
During the 1980s and 1990s, center-left and center-right governments displayed staggering levels of executive arrogance: they routinely ignored pre-election commitments, embarked on mandateless structural reforms, and turned to making “tough” decisions that enriched some and made life miserable for many.
So in 1993 voters changed the rules, abandoning the old First Out of Office (FPP) system, which regularly handed out huge parliamentary majorities to the Labor or National Party, in favor of mixed member proportional representation (MMP).
Under the new system, as long as a party wins at least 5 percent of the vote or one seat in the constituency (be it Maori or general), its share of parliamentary seats is in more or less direct proportion to its support. among voters.
That “more or less” is important. Depending on how many votes go to parties that do not exceed the threshold, a major party may win slightly less than a majority of the votes but still control a parliamentary majority.
For example, in last week’s 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton poll, Labor secured 62 seats on the basis of 48 percent support. That’s because the same poll showed a combined 7 percent support for parties that would not make it to parliament.
The eight seats represented by that so-called “wasted vote” would effectively be shared pro rata among the elected parties: Labor would win four, giving the party a majority.
