Members of an exclusive Muslim group An Nadsir cast their ballots during voting in parliamentary elections at a polling station in Gowa, South Sulawesi
Members of an exclusive Muslim group An Nadsir cast their ballots during voting in parliamentary elections at a polling station in Gowa, South Sulawesi Reuters

The New Zealand Labour Party has chosen veteran trade union leader Mr. Andrew Little as the leader to resurrect the party's ebbing political fortunes. The party had a miserable performance in the September polls and lost the battle to ruling National Party led by Mr. John Key. In the Labour Party's leadership race, Mr Little outsmarted three other candidates and won the leadership vote by 50.52 percent against his nearest rival Grant Robertson's 49.48 percent. The other two contestants, Nanaia Mahuta and David Parker were eliminated in the first two rounds.

In the election, Mr Little, received good support of the trade unions. As a former national secretary of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union he is a popular leader among the working class, reported TV Nz.

New Focus

Acknowledging the big responsibility thrust upon him, in terms of reviving the Labour party, Mr. Little said the party would learn from its mistakes and make appropriate course corrections. He said the New Zealand Labour Party should not go into the 2017 election repeating its fatal promises of raising the superannuation age and introducing a capital gains tax. He is of the view that these two issues damaged the support of traditional voters who ditched the party. "I've made a judgement that the superannuation policy and the capital gains tax policy have been problems for us and are reasons why people haven't voted for us, and therefore we need to review them," Mr. Little said.

Offer Of Support

This winner campaigned on the plank of restoring Labour Party's golden days and to lift it from the current pitiable position where it won just 25 per cent of the vote at the election, showing a glaring "disconnect between the party and a lot of New Zealanders".

Mr. Little rmphasised that the party needed discipline and focus. But the bigger task will be to reach out to hundreds of thousands "who used to vote for us but no longer do, but are looking for a reason to do so". The defeated candidate Mr. Robertson said Mr. Little would do well as an "excellent" leader. He promised his support in playing a part to make the Labour Party return to the government, reported Stuff.Co.Nz. Mr. Little said he would start a review process to analyse Labour's disastrous showing in September election and formulate the party's strategy for the next three years with focus on the 2017 elections.