Greens co-leader quits in NZ political upheaval

Wellington: New Zealand’s political landscape faced a further shake-up six weeks before a general election, as the co-leader of the Green Party quit following her admission of welfare and electoral fraud.

The Greens upheaval came as the main opposition Labour Party received a significant boost a week after dumping Andrew Little in favour of the charismatic 37-yearold Jacinda Ardern.

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei resigned an hour before the release of an opinion poll showing a dramatic one-third slump in support for her party to 8.3%.

Turei had defied political and media pressure to resign for more than three weeks since she first revealed wrongfully claiming a benefit to help support her baby while studying for a law degree in the early 1990s.

The Labour Party, which has the Greens as a coalition partner, benefited from its own leadership shakeup rising nine points to 33.1%, while support for Ardern as potential prime minister jumped 17.6% to 26.3%, just behind incumbent Bill English on 27.7%.

English’s centre-right National Party, which leads the ruling coalition, remained the most popular party in the Newshub poll on a steady 44.4%.

New Zealand First overtook the Greens as the third most popular party on 9.2% and remained the likely kingmakers in a coalition government. — AFP