Ukrainian Central Election Commission Head Okhendovsky
Mykhaylo Okhendovsky, head of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission, walks past a screen displaying the partial results of the parliamentary election at the commission's headquarters in Kiev October 27, 2014. Pro-Western parties will dominate Ukraine's parliament after an election handed President Petro Poroshenko a mandate to end a separatist conflict and steer the country further out of Russia's orbit into Europe's mainstream. Poroshenko planned to start coalition talks on Monday after exit polls and partial results showed most of the groups that were holding up democratic and legal reforms demanded by the European Union had been swept out of parliament on Sunday. Reuters

With the Labour Party deciding to clinch the leadership imbroglio democratically on Nov 18--the day of verdict by partymen, the prospects of various contestants have come up for scrutiny. However, the race has shown that a couple of contestants have endeared themselves more to party cadres by projecting the race as an issue driven contest than a clash personalities. There are four candidates in the fray -- Andrew Little, Nanaia Mahuta, David Parker and Grant Robertson, reports NZ Herald.

Capital Gains Tax

In the hustings meetings, the candidates have been articulating views on many economic and social issues. The campaign saw some of them taking an unambiguous stand. One such issue was the capital gains tax policy, meant for taxing the super rich. Candidate Parker harps more on villains of the piece, such as property speculators and the rich who dodge taxes, taking advantage of the lack of a capital gains tax system.

On the same issue, Andrew Little, makes his point from the perspective of its victims, who have modest incomes and worked hard, salted a bit of money away, and got a second property to call that as their retirement plan. He said these are the people, who should be voting for Labour. While Nanaia Mahuta has no specific stand, Grant Robertson is on the same page with Parker. He told media that it was not plausible to blame one policy for Labour's plight and ignore bigger problems facing the party. But Andrew Little has a number of factors to indicate Labour's rout and does not see capital gains tax as a matter of high priority. During the campaign in Middle New Zealand, the top contestants offered illuminating moments not by talking about tax reforms, but by answering to what can be called "trivia".

High Stakes

There, Andrew Little succeeded in portraying himself as Labour's Man of the Middle by being rather low-brow. When the candidates were asked what their favourite movies were, Mr. Little chose "Sleepless in Seattle." On favourite writers, three chose Kiwi authors Murakami, Frank Sargeson, Witi Ihimaera. But, Little stood his ground and mentioned John Grisham.

In the Labour Party's race process, the leader has to be elected by an electoral college consisting of Party Members: Caucus and Affiliated Unions. It will be a single round preferential voting system. The winner must gain the support of a simple majority of the entire Electoral College. In the individual ballot papers, voters have to choose their order of preference for the candidates. The first preference votes for each candidate will be totalled nationally across all three sections of the Electoral College to decide the winner.