I know you're all on a post-election zen moment ...

But spare a thought for we NZers, who have our own election on Saturday!

Not very Thunderdome, since it's kind of NINE PARTIES ENTER! FIVE TO NINE PARTIES LEAVE!

The history of our wacky political system is nicely summed up by a Kiwi blogger:
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2008/10/beginners-guide-to-coalitions.html

But basically, there's 120 seats in Parliament (only one House), ~65 of those are electorate seats (geographical, cf districts), equal population of voters in each. Par exemple, I am in the Wellington Central electorate.

The remaining seats in Parliament are the list seats. Every registered party has set list of people.

Now, when I vote, I get two votes: one to elect the Member of Parliament for my electorate, and one in favour of a political party. Electorate seats are your basic most-votes-wins system; the party votes are where it gets FUN.

After the votes are counted and the electorates are decided, each party (who has won at least one electorate or at least 5% of the party votes) gets allotted list seats to bring their total proportion of the seats in Parliament up to their proportion of the party vote.

So the Greens last time won 5% of the party vote, but no electorates - they got 6 list seats.
Labour won 31 electorates but 41% of the party vote, so it got 19 extra party seats.

The upshot is that we've gone from a three-or-four-party system to having 8 parties in Parliament, and it's basically impossible for either of the "major parties" to get over 50% of the total seats in Parliament on their own. WE CAN HAS COALITION NAO?

So Saturday, peeps, be thinking of me and my fine nation as we have to work all this shit out (and cackle at our media commentators who still pretend not to understand concepts like "rural polling booths report first so right-wing parties always look better at the beginning of the evening"). I shall be boozing, dressing as the Communist Party of the USSR (our piss-up theme is Come As A Party You Did Not Vote For) and probably blogging drunkenly, especially if the Greens hit 10%. FINGERS CROSSED.

Wow, thanks for explaining it all, I totally wouldn't have an idea of how this happens NZ - and thanks for the link, too, I will read through it today or tommorow.

I will totally be thinking about you and all the wonderful New Zealand folks on Saturday. I have loved the idea for your party ever since you mentioned it in your LJ - I hope there will be pictures.

Fingers crossed!

I need to read LJ more.
Thank you Misk for the explanation of the NZ political system. THis is the kind of politics that interests me: how things are done other places. With our measly two party system we aren't offered much choice. I'll read through the link because my american mind is boggled over more then two parties and this sounds fascinating.

Kate: how do politics work in Cz?