{news} Fw: USGP-INT NZ Greens disappointed to lose Nandor from Parliament

[Justine McCabe]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Feinstein" <mfeinstein at feinstein.org>
To: <usgp-int at gp-us.org>
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 11:48 PM
Subject: USGP-INT NZ NZ Greens disappointed to lose Nandor from Parliament


> http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0510/S00003.htm
> 
> Greens disappointed to lose Nandor from Parliament
> Saturday, 1 October 2005, 1:32 pm
> Press Release: Green Party
> 
> Greens disappointed to lose Nandor from Parliament
> 
> The Green Party is disappointed the party was just 1,246 votes short of 
> getting a seventh MP in the next Parliament, but is pleased the final 
> election results confirm Helen Clark will be the next Prime Minister of 
> New Zealand.
> 
> "We're deeply saddened that Nandor will no longer be an MP but are glad 
> that the centre-left is now in an even stronger position to form the 
> next government," Green Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says.
> 
> "We will certainly be making the most of the six MPs we do have and 
> playing a strong role in the next government that Helen Clark will now 
> be able to form.
> 
> "The silver lining in the final election results is that the margin 
> between Labour and National has doubled, and Helen can now work with her 
> allies to form the next government."
> 
> The Greens' other Co-Leader, Rod Donald, said the party was desperately 
> close to gaining a seventh MP.
> 
> "Although we were quietly confident that we could repeat our 1999 and 
> 2002 successes and pick up an extra seat on the specials, this time we 
> fell agonizingly short. While our final result is a marked improvement 
> on the election night result - from 5.07% to 5.30% - that wasn't quite 
> enough to get Nandor back.
> 
> "By our calculations, had the Greens won 1,246 extra votes - or 0.0545% 
> of the total - we would have got an extra MP off the National Party. In 
> 1999, we got seven MPs with 5.16%. It's very sad that this year 5.30% 
> wasn't enough."
> 
> Mr Donald said Nandor would be a "big loss" to Parliament.
> 
> "Nandor has made a considerable contribution to Parliament over the past 
> six years. His Clean Slate Bill became law, he was influential in the 
> development of the Supreme Court, and he helped to make our Parliament a 
> genuine House of Representatives. I have no doubt that Nandor will 
> continue to campaign hard for the issues he cares deeply about."
> 
> The Co-Leaders said the Greens were looking forward to negotiating with 
> Helen Clark from Monday.
> 
> "Our goal now is to make the best contribution we can to the next 
> government of New Zealand. We look forward to talking with Labour about 
> what that contribution will be."
> 
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