Opposition National have raised the spectre of a second election in New Zealand should this weekend's election produce a deadlock.
The centre-right party is on track to win on Saturday, but polling indicates it will need support from two coalition partners.
Its preferred partner is right-wing libertarians ACT, with leader Chris Luxon saying National would reluctantly also accept help from populist New Zealand First if his numbers are needed for a parliamentary majority.
National is worried about that scenario and is warning Kiwis away from NZ First, the party of Winston Peters.
Under NZ's electoral system, parties hold often lengthy coalition talks after the election to form governments, horse-trading for policies and positions.
Mr Peters is a shrewd operator in that environment, most recently putting Jacinda Ardern's Labour into power in 2017, and becoming deputy prime minister in the process.
Negotiating with Mr Peters is plainly a situation National fears, with campaign manager Chris Bishop saying Kiwis could head back to the polls if the party opt against accommodating his notoriously tough demands.
"We are concerned there would be an inability to strike a deal ... there is a real possibility of the necessity of a second election and it's a growing one," Mr Bishop told the NZ Herald.
That realistic scenario would play out should National and ACT return 60 seats in parliament, with Labour, the Greens, the Maori Party and NZ First combining for the other 60.
ACT party leader David Seymour, who says he doesn't trust Mr Peters but would also reluctantly work with him in government, said voters didn't deserve another poll.
"New Zealanders would be hoha, they'd be angry, they'd be outraged if after the election, having to go through another campaign," he said.
Mr Seymour has also put National on notice, saying it would walk away from coalition talks and simply offer a confidence deal if the negotiations don't offer ACT enough power.
That threat allowed Labour to argue that a National-ACT-NZ First coalition was unworkable.
"National, ACT and New Zealand First's final week meltdown is giving New Zealanders a taste of how chaotic a government they would be," Finance Minister Grant Robertson said.
"Yesterday Chris Bishop was talking about a second election rather than working with New Zealand First, today ACT is talking again about holding a government to ransom.
"That could result in US-style government shutdowns ... all this highlights Christopher Luxon's poor judgement and inexperience and points to the rings Seymour and Peters will run around him."
