New Zealand is facing weeks of uncertainty following a closely fought election that failed to hand a decisive victory to either the incumbent rightwing coalition or the opposition left bloc. Preliminary results show the two main parties, National and Labour, neck-and-neck, with fewer than 4,000 votes separating them. Both Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of the National Party and Chris Hipkins of the Labour Party have admitted it is not yet clear who the country's next leader will be.
While early counts suggest the centre-right National party will be the largest in parliament, neither major party secured enough seats to form a government without the support of minor parties. National may be able to govern alongside its traditional coalition partners, the libertarian Act and populist New Zealand First parties, though this would result in a very slim majority. Additionally, the final shape of the government may hinge on whether the centrist Opportunity Party enters parliament for the first time.
Official results are not expected until later this month once special votes have been counted, and more than half of the voters cast early ballots in the race. The process was further managed by strict election-day laws on political reporting designed to prevent voters from being swayed at the last minute.