New Zealand announces new coalition govt

Wellington, Nov 24 : Three political parties of New Zealand announced on Friday the lineup for a new coalition government after weeks of negotiations.

The new coalition government of National Party, ACT New Zealand party and New Zealand First party will be stable, effective and will deliver for all New Zealanders, Nationals leader and incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said during the signing ceremony at Parliament.

NZ Firsts leader Winston Peters will be Deputy Prime Minister for the first half of the three-year parliamentary term, and ACTs leader David Seymour will take up the position for the second half of the term, reports Xinhua news agency.

Peters will be foreign minister and Seymour will be minister for regulation assessing the quality of new and existing regulations.

The 20-strong cabinet will have 14 National ministers, three ACT ministers and three NZ First ministers.

Nationals Nicola Willis will be the finance minister.

The new government will be sworn in on November 27.

"Despite the challenging economic environment, New Zealanders can look forward to a better future because of the changes the new government will make," Luxon said after signing the deal to form the new coalition.

The incoming Prime Minister said the new government will ease the cost of living and deliver tax relief, restore law and order, and deliver better public services.

The National Party won the general election on October 14, with the Labor Party to step down after six years in office.

However, with no party winning a majority of seats, the formation of a new government depended on the outcome of interparty negotiations to form a coalition government.

New Zealand uses the Mixed Member Proportional voting system to elect its parliament.

Under this system, the government is usually formed by two or more parliamentary political parties.