Is National offending the Maori Party

THE DOMINION POST: National leader John Key has risked getting offside with one of his few minor party allies after aligning the Maori Party with Labour and warning against electing a "five-headed monster".

On the campaign trail yesterday, he said voters would have to choose between "a National government with potentially a lot less moving parts" or a government cobbled together by Prime Minister Helen Clark "with all sorts of different parties, pulling very hard to the Left".

"There could be six leaders, could be a multiple number of parties, and competition within that sort of arrangement.

"I think it's a very clear choice for New Zealanders."

His comments echo National's 1996 campaign against electing the so-called toxic trio - Helen Clark, the then-Alliance leader Jim Anderton and NZ First leader Winston Peters.

But National ended up being the one to do a deal with Mr Peters.

National's intention this time is clear - to use the spectre of a Labour, Greens, Progressive, NZ First and Maori Party coalition to urge voters to vote strategically.

It is likely to ratchet up its warnings amid continuing economic uncertainty.

But the strategy could backfire by pushing the Maori Party closer to Labour, leaving National with fewer post-election options for forming a government.

Yesterday Mr Key left open the option of doing a deal with the Maori Party, saying recent statements by the minor party could be interpreted "one way or the other".

He suggested, meanwhile, that it would come under "moral" pressure to do a deal if National won the most votes on election night.

Though, under MMP, the government has so far always been led by the party with the most votes, it would be possible for a party with fewer parties to stitch together a governing arrangement, with the support of other parties.

National has already ruled out NZ First, which some polls suggest could be on the comeback trail.

Miss Clark said Mr Key's comments yesterday showed he was rattled and getting more desperate as the polls got closer.

Any government Mr Key led would also need allies, including ACT, UnitedFuture and potentially the Maori Party.

"He knows that any arrangement from National that brings Roger Douglas anywhere near government is something that people do not want at all," Miss Clark told Newstalk ZB. "So he's trying to cover that very unpopular fact."

Recent polls suggest Labour is back in with a chance to form the next government, though polling has been volatile, producing wildly varying results.