13th NZ Parliament

The 13th Parliament of New Zealand was in session from October 25, 2011, to November 26, 2011. The membership was set by the October 25 elections by voters in the four original regions of NZ. Four political parties secured representation.

This Parliament was notable for the loss of Tasmania only mere hours after the elections times closed. Therefore the original seats that had been reserved for that region were declared vacant and therefore the size of the Parliament was shrunk.

The Ujedinjenje ili smrt (UIS) emerged as the largest party with a plurality of seats, 11 of 40. This marked only the third time in its entire history that the party won the largest share of seats. These results vindicated the party's strategy of becoming more active and bolstered the candidacy of their nominee, DaRkO 206, who went on to win the Presidency.

Retaining its 10 seats was Love and Peace, who did increase their popular vote from 40 to 58, the highest of all parties. The party's steady growth indicated it had become a stable force in NZ. The party offered its support to the UIS CP candidate in October.

The election was a setback for the Peace 'n' Prosperity Party (PnPP), who lost 4 seats and fell to 9. It marked dampening of support for the party, especially as the incumbent PnPP President, mortalbeta was at the end of her term.

The steady decline of Ranginui continued with this election, as the party fell to 3 seats. Its popular vote fell to a historic low of 17 votes. It remained a relatively minor force, with one MP later defecting to the L&P.

The Parliament was supportive of Mortalbeta during her final days but the real work began with the election of DaRko 206 on November 6, 2011. Quickly his administration set up a direct PM list all elected Congressmen and the party presidents. This new communication led to major policy debate and a renewed emphasis on using IRC Chat to debate proposed policy.

A new feature of this Parliament was the expansion of MPP's with nations like Peru, Malaysia and later Thailand. While the government did not oppose it, it did raise questions about the financial cost of these measures. They eventually passed, as did the renewal with NZ's ONE allies.

An issue did arise that led the PnPP members to vote en mass against the government, when a large sum of money was transferred to a Serbian organization. While it was revealed that this was done to pay back a loan and help out a close friend, it still led to debate and saw certain PnPP members take a more critical stance (although a minority of their caucus did support the measure).