Peters says he can do deal in five days
Winston Peters says he can get a deal done in the five days between special votes coming in and his self-imposed deadline, as he locks himself away in a marathon meeting with his caucus.
The NZ First leader returned to Wellington yesterday ahead of preliminary coalition negotiations.
Last week, the kingmaker said he would not begin negotiations until after the final results had been returned this Saturday.
These results would include more than 300,000 special votes, which account for 15 per cent of the vote, and would likely slightly change the makeup of Parliament. Historically, special votes have favoured the Left.
Peters said he wanted to wait to hear the ‘‘precise voice’’ of the country before launching into discussions with National and Labour.
He has also said that he will have any negotiations wrapped up by October 12 – just five days after the early vote arrives.
On Monday Peters said preliminary talks would start this week, ahead of the return of the special votes.
Yesterday he refused to answer questions from reporters when he arrived in Wellington. NZ First MPS arriving for the meeting also refused to comment on coalition negotiations and preliminary meetings.
Peters emerged for lunch just after 1pm, flanked by his colleagues. He said his caucus meeting was going well. ‘‘We’ve got the whole afternoon to go yet.’’
Asked if he could get a deal done in the tight timeframe between October 7 and October 12, Peters twice repeated that he could.