Victories this week by the New Zealand Green Party, which has won seats in Parliament for the first time, have temporarily thrown the country’s fledgling center-left coalition into flux. The coalition had expected to win a majority of seats, but now has to count on Green support to exert control. The six victorious Greens toasted their party’s first electoral success with organic wine before meeting with Premier-elect Helen Clark, who gained their pledges of cooperation in return for promises that she’ll work closely with the Greens on environmental issues. Green co-leader Jeannette Fitzsimons said her party will focus in particular on concerns about genetically modified foods and logging within New Zealand.
