New Zealand in Leadership Battle After Shock Resignation of PM
06 December 2016 - 6:50PM
Dow Jones News
New Zealand is facing a leadership contest following the
surprise resignation of Prime Minister John Key that will pit his
deputy, a former party leader, against at least two other prominent
members.
Mr. Key, a 55-year-old former Merrill Lynch banker, said on
Monday that he will step down to spend more time with his family
and to give his ruling center-right National Party time to rally
around a new leader before elections next year. The party will meet
Dec. 12 to decide on a new leader.
On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English, who was endorsed
by Mr. Key, said he would seek the top job at that meeting.
"I know the talent, energy and focus of the National Party team
and would welcome the opportunity to lead it," Mr. English, who is
also the country's finance minister, said on his Facebook
account.
Mr. English led the party in opposition from 2001 until 2003,
when he was replaced amid weak opinion polls, and has been its
deputy since 2008.
He will face challenges from Health Minister Jonathan Coleman, a
medical doctor first elected in 2005, and Corrections and Police
Minister Judith Collins, a lawyer elected in 2002.
"I am absolutely up for the challenge," Dr. Coleman, 50, told
reporters. "I believe I've got the energy, I've got relative youth
on my side and I am absolutely focused on winning this leadership
contest but then going on and delivering the very, very best for
New Zealanders."
Heading into an election year, Ms. Collins, 57, said the party
needs "the best person at the helm and I believe that I am that
person."
The successful candidate will take over an economy that is among
the fastest-growing in the developed world.
Mr. Key, who has led the country since 2008, had said he would
back 54-year-old Mr. English to replace him. "We have had a great
working relationship and to me it would feel a bit odd if I wasn't
backing the guy that I have stood alongside for a decade," he said
on Monday.
As with neighboring Australia, New Zealand faces the challenge
of balancing its close U.S. ties with a growing economic
relationship with China—an important trade partner.
Mr. Key was among the Pacific Rim leaders pushing back against
growing skepticism toward free-trade deals in the U.S. and
elsewhere at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima,
Peru, in November.
Support for the National Party rose to 49.5% in November, well
ahead of a potential alliance between the country's Labour and
Greens parties on a combined 37.5%, according to a poll by Roy
Morgan Research, a market-research company.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 06, 2016 02:35 ET (07:35 GMT)
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