New Zealand Politics

         Queen Elizabeth II, The head of state., Source: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The beautiful land of New Zealand and its exotic and distinct location to the south have always been mesmerizing and very intriguing. The land of the native Maoris and the culture that is so individualistic has drawn attention of people from around the globe. From British Imperialism to the famous Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand has had a tryst within the annals of time. The politics of New Zealand comprises and works around a constitutional monarchy. This implies that New Zealand is directly under the aegis of the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II. She heads the state as reigning monarch and Head of State. The monarchy is represented in New Zealand in the presence of the Governor General. This post is currently held by Anand Satyanand.

The New Zealand government and politics are very similar to the British system. New Zealand has a ‘Mixed Member Proportional’ or MMP parliamentary system. This indicates that the political parties of New Zealand have a fixed proportion of the seats in the Cabinet. In the ‘Mixed Member Proportional’ system, the individual political party or a coalition with the maximum number of seats also calls the shots. At the moment, the labor led coalition holds power in New Zealand and is led by Prime Minister Helen Clark. In fact, it is interesting to note that New Zealand was the first country in the world to acknowledge the role of women in society by allowing women to vote, way back in    1893.Today, the political system of New Zealand enables the citizens of the land to exercise adult franchise, where every male and female above 18 years of age exercises the right to go to the polls and vote.

In the 1930s and 40s, Social Security schemes were introduced by the Labor Party, which implied a 40 hour working week and specified minimum wage requirements. After the Second World War, when the National Party won the elections and came into power, there were two spells of Labor governance, but the National Party remained in power until the latter part of the nineteenth century. Today, the centre-left Labor Party is in power in New Zealand. This makes Helen Clark the first woman Prime Minister of New Zealand. The party faces opposition in the form of John Key, who leads the major opposition party - the centre-right National Party.

There are other political parties that contest elections and oppose ruling members of parliament in New Zealand and some of them are the left-wing Green Party, the centre-left United Future Party, the right-wing which is also New Zealand First Party and the ACT parties. The government at the local level is represented by the twelve regional councils. The 12 regional councils are further divided into City or District Councils. Currently, there are sixteen City Councils operative and fifty seven District Councils.

New Zealand has come a long way since the first established British imperialism and the disputed take over of the land and resources from the natives. The government set up of New Zealand has seen the nation take giant leaps in the world political arena.