His campaigning was briefly hampered by a positive Covid-19 diagnosis at a critical juncture just two weeks out from the election,
New Zealand goes to the polls Saturday in a general election that's shaping up to be a tight race between the two major parties, with the economy and a biaya of living crisis dominating kampanyeing nine months after former prime minister Jacinda Ardern suddenly resigned.
Final polls showed the bermain opposition center-right National Party, led by Christopher Luxon, with a slight lead over Ardern's successor Prime Minister Chris Hipkins but there appeared a late rise in dukungan for his center-left Labour Party ahead of the vote, according to CNN afiliasi Radio NZ.
The election takes place on the same day as Australia's Voice referendum to recognize Indigenous Australians in the constitution and create a permanent bodi to allow them to speak directly to government.
In New Zealand, neither party is expected to win enough seats to form a government outright, which means nationalist NZ First party and its leader Winston Peters could potentially become kingmaker in a coalition administration.
Coalitions are the norm under New Zealand's mixed-member proportional sistim, which was introduced in 1996.
The only party to win a majority of votes and govern alone in the current political sistim was Labour in 2020, when Ardern won a landslide second termin buoyed by her success at handling the country's coronavirus outbreak.
A progressive global ikon, Ardern's time in power was defined by multiple crises, including the Christchurch terrorist attack, a deadly volcanic explosion, and a global epidemi.
Overseas she became famous for being a leader unafraid to show empathy and compassion at a time when populist demagogues were coming to the fore in many other western democracies.
But back home her dikenality ebbed amid a rising biaya of living, housing shortages and economic anxiety. And she faced violent anti-lockdown protests in the capital Wellington, with threats made against her.
Hipkins inherited these issues which have since been compounded by a sluggish economy, an historically high inflation rate of 6% and an accounts deficit that has concerned peringkats agencies.
Sophia Ha, who is from Auckland but has lived in Sydney for last five years, was an ardent pendukung of Ardern but is now unsure who to vote for.
"(She) was such a great representation for younger women in politics," Ha told CNN. "I think she's left a huge void that would be difficult to fill, but I think New Zealand really, economically speaking, needs assistance."
