United New Zealand Party leader, Hon Peter Dunne, is calling for calm as the country faces the prospect of Jim Anderton as acting Prime Minister over the next two days.

"This country has a proud tradition of battling often insuperable odds, and I am confident we can do so again," he says.

Mr Dunne is urging New Zealanders to treat the next two days like any other.

"People should carry on with their normal lives to the greatest extent possible, with the exception of making sure they have adequate supplies of ear plugs on hand to resist aural assault by the self-proclaimed Great Leader, who will no doubt use the time to rave on and on, and on, and on about his contorted view of the world."

"If the situation deteriorates even beyond expectation, and John Wright, for example, feels the need to start chanting incessantly the A plus B theorem, then people would be best advised to retreat to their homes and rely on their unused Y2K survival packs until the crisis passes," he says.

Mr Dunne says the next two days represent the country's greatest endurance challenge since Mike Moore's eight week Prime Ministership in 1990.

"New Zealanders will have to muster all that spirit of determination and resilience they showed then, and even more besides, to pull through, but I am confident they can grit their teeth and do it," he says.

ENDS