Photo: RNZ
A new government is expected to officially form in New Zealand on Monday, six weeks after the elections.
The wait since Kiwis voted on 14 October and final results were announced on 3 November might seem long.
A poll taken from 17 to 22 November showed growing public frustration about the ongoing talks to form a government.
The Talbot Mills Research poll found 66 percent of respondents thought the negotiations between the leaders of National, ACT and New Zealand First were taking too long.
On Thursday, National Party leader Christopher Luxon said he hoped the new government could be formally sworn in on Monday, with Parliament resuming from 5 December.
Luxon said there was "massive alignment" from the three parties around their goals.
The new government needs to meet by 21 December, in order to comply with orders from the Governor-General.
In New Zealand, six weeks is a protracted wait for a new government, but it has been longer in the past.
Back in 1996, it took two months for the government to form after the first MMP elections. At that time, National leader Jim Bolger was in coalition talks with NZ First leader Winston Peters.
In comparison, the world record for the longest wait to form a government in peacetime is held by Belgium, which waited 541 days for a new government after elections in 2010.
War-torn Iraq had the longest period without a democratic government after conflict, waiting 289 days for a government in 2010.
On average, it takes the Dutch 90 days to form a government after an election - and their longest wait was 225 days in 2017.
Germany took five months to form a government with Angela Merkel as chancellor in 2018.
In the Netherlands, coalition talks are expected to take months, after the far-right Freedom Party won the election on 23 November.
The Freedom Party's populist leader Geert Wilders wants to be the next prime minister of the Netherlands and plans to focus on curbing immigration.
