National's leader has no commanding moral mandate to form a government, Labour's campaign chair Phil Twyford says.
Look back on Mr Twyford's interview in RNZ's Auckland studio.
National Party leader Bill English said today the 46 percent party vote in Saturday's election was a "clear indication" that voters wanted it to carry on governing, and though it had yet to secure the support to form a fourth-term government, he rated its chances of doing a deal with New Zealand First.
But he acknowleged his party needed the support of New Zealand First before it could say it had a mandate to govern.
Labour campaign chair and Te Atatu MP Phil Twyford said the "current caretaker prime minister has somewhat over-reached".
"You would think by the sound of what Bill English has been saying in recent days that they've got this commanding moral mandate to form a government.
"That's not how it works."
He told Morning Report the 61 seats a Labour-Green-New Zealand First coalition would deliver was enough.
"Yes it is - with the prospect of 384,000 special votes that could shift up to two seats from the right to the centre left."
Though National would still be the biggest single party if that proved the case, the only winner in an MMP election was a leader that could could put together a majority, he said.
"This is the eighth MMP election. I think that the system has matured. We have seen a great variety of governments with different arrangements -minority, majority, confidence and supply.
"There's only one rule under MMP - it's the leader who can command a majority in the House. That's all it comes down to."
