New Zealand PM calls national election for September

New Zealand's next general election will be held on Sept. 23, Prime Minister Bill English said Wednesday, outlining his hope of maintaining the current partnership of governing parties.

"As we have done in previous election years I am announcing the election date early as I believe it's important to provide the country with some certainty and that it's in everyone's best interest to have plenty of notice," English said in a statement.

His center-right National Party, which currently holds 59 seats in the 121-seat parliament, would campaign on its "strong record" in government and go into the election with "a positive and ambitious program that will back New Zealanders to succeed," he said.

"New Zealand is well placed compared to many other countries. That's down to the hard work of households and businesses across the country, backed by the National-led government's clear and successful plan for our future," said English.

"The challenge for our country now is to sustain that growth and build on it to deliver more again for all New Zealanders."

The government's intention was that parliament would rise on Aug. 17 and be dissolved on Aug. 22.

Under New Zealand's mixed member proportional representation system, each voter has two votes: one for a constituency Member of Parliament and the other for their preferred political party.

The system rarely results in an outright majority for any single party, leaving the biggest party to form partnerships with smaller parties to obtain a parliamentary majority.

English said his preference after the election would be to continue working with the National Party's current partners: the libertarian-leaning ACT party; the Maori Party; and the centrist United Future party.

"Together our parties have provided a stable and successful government at a time of great uncertainty in many parts of the world," said English.

He ruled out working with the center-left bloc of the Labour and Green parties.

The seventh party represented in the current parliament, New Zealand First, was "an unlikely partner," but he was "prepared to have discussions with them post-election depending on the makeup of parliament."

The National Party has led the government since 2008 -- being re-elected in 2011 and 2014 -- mostly under the leadership of John Key, who resigned as prime minister unexpectedly in December last year.

English, 55, was Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister before succeeding Key.

English was previously elected National Party leader in 2001, but led the party to its worst ever general election defeat in 2002.

While the National Party maintains a comfortable lead in most polls over the Labor-Greens grouping, its main rivals, the country is struggling with a growing housing crisis and increasing dissatisfaction in services such as health and education, which have endured funding squeezes in recent years.

source: Xinhua