National’s candidate for the Mt Albert by-election says she has a chance of winning the seat and will be helped by vote-splitting between Labour and the Greens.
List MP Melissa Lee last night beat Ravi Musuku for the nomination.
Ms Lee said today Labour had held Mt Albert for 63 years and Miss Clark served it well, but there were four new candidates in the by-election.
“Mt Albert voters are spoilt for choice,” she said on Radio New Zealand.
“It will be fantastic to get into an electorate and represent the people there.”

SUVA, Fiji (AP) — Fiji’s military ruler on Wednesday refused to buckle to demands that he hold democratic elections this year, saying he would stick to his own timetable even if it meant facing sanctions.
Commodore Frank Bainimarama also suggested that the leaders of the 16-member Pacific Island Forum who threatened to suspend Fiji from their bloc, which could mean losing aid money, that they had no right to do so.
“I have never come across a situation where a country gives an ultimatum to another country unless, of course, there is …

The awkward issue of democracy in Fiji will dominate a meeting of South Pacific leaders in Papua New Guinea.
There is disagreement on how to respond to the failure of Fiji’s military-led government to hold elections.
Both Australia and New Zealand appear to be losing patience with the Fijian military and are pushing for tougher sanctions.
Smaller island nations, including Tonga and Samoa, have said they will oppose any heavy-handed tactics.
Fiji’s military seized power more than two years ago and shows no sign of returning the country to democratic government anytime soon.

The Green Party has gained an extra seat in Parliament following the release of official election results on Saturday, and now has nine seats in total.
The National Party, who had 59 seats in the provisional results, lose one seat.
The Chief Electoral Office has recounted all votes cast on election day, and counted 270,000 special votes.

A new centre-right government has taken office in New Zealand, having defeated Helen Clark’s Labour party in a general election on 8 November.
John Key, 47, was sworn in as New Zealand’s 38th prime minister during a ceremony in the capital, Wellington.
The multi-millionaire former investment banker said limiting the damage of the global recession was his top priority.
His National Party has promised to cut taxes, spend more on infrastructure and undertake regulatory reforms.

John Key – prime Minister of New Zealand

New Zealanders chose a multimillionaire former foreign currency trader Saturday to lead them through the global financial meltdown, handing long-serving left-wing Prime Minister Helen Clark a crushing election defeat.
John Key’s conservative National Party easily won power in New Zelaland, known internationally for its pristine environment and as the backdrop to the “Lord of the Rings” movies.
“Today, New Zealand has spoken, in their hundreds of thousands, and they have voted for change,” Key told supporters at a victory celebration in Auckland.

A multi-millionaire known as “the smiling assassin” during his career as an investment banker in London became New Zealand’s prime minister yesterday.
John Key, 47, led his conservative National party to victory in a general election, denying the governing Labour party a fourth term in office. Along with his allies, Key now commands a decisive majority in parliament.
He acquired his nickname after sacking dozens of employees during his time as a director of Merrill Lynch in Australia and Britain in the 1990s.

New Zealand on Saturday elected its first conservative government in almost a decade, ending the rule of one of the world’s longest-serving elected female leaders.
Prime Minister Helen Clark conceded defeat with nearly all of the vote of the vote counted, telling supporters that “tonight is not our night.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has made her final pitch to voters, urging them to stick with proven leadership rather than choosing the untested Opposition National Party.
Miss Clark and Opposition Leader John Key spent their last day of campaigning in shopping centres and on streets around Auckland.