Editorial: Election doubts damaging

It is time to call a halt to the speculation about the date of this year's election. The Prime Minister must declare either that the Government will run its full term or that a poll will be held early, perhaps as soon as late July. To maintain her studied reticence is to condemn the country to a damaging hiatus.

Before any election, many decisions, particularly in the commercial arena, are put on hold. The country goes into a kind of limbo as it awaits the identity of the new government, no matter how obvious the outcome may appear. Now, so loudly and persistently are the drums beating for an early poll that we are sliding towards that state. In the cause of good government, Helen Clark must put an end to this debilitating uncertainty.

She had her opportunity at the weekend's Labour congress but continued to insist that no date had been set. Clear hints suggest, however, that even if that is the case, an early election is uppermost in her mind. Labour Party workers were asked to work with far more urgency than is normal at this time of an election year. Further, the Alliance, its farcical coalition partner, was effectively sent to Coventry. And it seems that the Imprest Supply Bill, the last piece of legislation needed before an election, will come before Parliament as early as June 11. A Government intent on serving out its term would not need to contemplate this machinery legislation until the following month.

Increasingly it seems apparent the Labour Party has been seduced by its constantly high support in public opinion polls. An insecurity, prompted perhaps by long spells out of government, urges that it strike while the going is good. Yet the haste is both unwarranted and unnecessary. Labour will argue that it needs a fresh mandate because its legislative programme is being delayed by Parliament's concentration on the Alliance split. The reasoning, however, bears no scrutiny.

It is undoubtedly true that Jim Anderton's contortions continue to be absurd and the mocking of the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Act no less unsavoury. But the Alliance's rupturing has had little impact on the working of Parliament, save for embarrassing Question Time sessions. Indeed, hoops have been gone through to perpetuate the charade of normality. It is in the interest of neither Mr Anderton nor Laila Harre to destabilise the Government. And that is unlikely to change over the next six months.

Nor does it appear likely that the National Party will come to pose a serious threat to Labour over that relatively short period. In fact, as the Herald-DigiPoll survey published yesterday indicated, the party making the strongest gains is the Greens. The survey suggested not only that Jeanette Fitzsimons had an excellent chance of holding Coromandel but that the party, in Coromandel at least, had a healthy 10 per cent of the party vote. Labour must surely have calculated that if that strength is sustained, the prospect of solid Green representation in a coalition government would drive some traditional National voters into its fold.

Most fundamentally, the Prime Minister should recognise that New Zealanders simply do not want an early election. An opinion poll early this month found 58 per cent of people against the prospect. More than that, nobody wants the uncertainty of not knowing when an election will be held. If Labour wants to risk a voter backlash, so be it. That could be the outcome if it continues to keep the country in the dark.