Could Winston Peters become Prime Minister?

There have been occasional overseas examples of a minor party holding the Prime Minister's post in a coalition Government.

Last year Latvia's Indulis Emsis, Europe's first Green Prime Minister, was a compromise choice after argument between the leaders of Latvia's larger right-wing parties. His Government collapsed after less than 10 months.

Bettino Craxi, who led the Socialists in Italy in the 1980s, was Prime Minister for four years in a coalition deal with the larger conservative Christian Democrats which was primarily designed to shut the Italian Communist Party out of power.

And Tomiichi Murayama, head of the Japan Socialist Party and Japan's Prime Minister from 1994 to 1996, ran a three-way coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New Sakigake Party.