Clark sits back as parties fight over best places

The Government is keeping out of the fight between opposition parties over who gets the title of Leader of the Opposition and where MPs get to sit in Parliament.

New Zealand retains the old system where the leader of the largest opposition party is the leader of the entire Opposition. Bill English, leader of the much-depleted National Party, will hold that position in the new Parliament.

The position gives Mr English a higher salary and more money for support staff.

He will also get the right to appoint representatives to some committees, such as those dealing with electoral boundaries, and the right to be consulted over some appointments and matters of state.

Other opposition parties, such as New Zealand First, which has 13 MPs compared with National's 27, and the nine-MP Greens believe the rules need to be changed.

"The title is a misnomer, an archaic throw-back to the days of first-part-the-post," said Green co-leader Rod Donald.

The position of Leader of the Opposition is defined by standing orders (the rules governing Parliament).

Prime Minister Helen Clark said the position could still be justified in New Zealand's Parliament, but the "fragmentation of the opposition" was unusual.

"I wouldn't think we would want to rush in to saying there should be no leader of the Opposition, but in an academic sense it is an interesting question."

Although the rules over who leads the Opposition cannot be changed before Parliament opens, who gets to sit where is still a matter of debate.

Parties meet tomorrow to try to sort out the seating arrangements after several small parties complained over National's claim on nine frontbench seats.

The Speaker - almost certain to be the incumbent, Jonathan Hunt - will eventually decide seating, but as he will not be elected until after MPs first take their seats, some fear an unsightly dash for the best chairs on Monday.

Helen Clark said she was keeping out of the argument.

"We haven't taken a view on it as a Government. We are leaving it to Jonathan's diplomatic skills to try and get some outcome."

Despite the tradition, the other parties were raising fair points, she said.

National's 27 MPs can fit exactly into a main block of seats between the Speaker and the first aisle, giving them nine frontbench seats directly opposite the Labour front bench and National's main ministerial targets.

Mr Donald described the situation as a "farce" given that National was smaller than the combined forces of the other parties not in government.

If National takes the nine prime seats, that means only five crossbench seats will be left for New Zealand First, Act and the Greens. Together they have 31 MPs, four more than National.

Mr Donald said he was arguing for NZ First to get three frontbench seats and the Greens, who have two co-leaders, to get two.

Act would get two, "which means National will have to accept seven".

- NZPA

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