The Labour Party is accusing the Prime Minister of treating New Zealanders with contempt by confirming electorate deals in Epsom and Ohariu, Radio New Zealand reports.
John Key is asking National Party supporters to back ACT's David Seymour in Epsom and United Future leader Peter Dunne in Ohariu, but says National will not accommodate the Conservative Party in East Coast Bays.
National is just trying to be clear about who it can work with, to give its supporters a choice to vote tactically, Key says.
However, Labour leader David Cunliffe says the Prime Minister was manipulating the MMP system with cosy deals.
“It's very, very disappointing for New Zealanders who want the electoral system to have integrity, they want their party vote to count and they don't like being ordered around by Mr Key or anybody else as to who they should be voting for.”
Cunliffe says the party would not be doing any pre-election deals.
Dunne says Labour's comments contained a degree of hypocrisy, because Labour had given various nods to its allies in the past.
He hopes support from National for his seat in Ohariu would also boost United Future's party vote.