WELLINGTON, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced on Friday that New Zealand will hold general election on Nov. 8 after a five-week campaign.

    Clark made the announcement at a news conference on Friday, saying the 2008 election would be based on trust and used the conference to outline her Labor party's achievements in government and vision for the future.

    Clark said parliament would be dissolved on Oct. 3. Writ day would follow on Oct. 8. Nomination day would be Oct. 14, then the general election would be on Nov. 8.

    She said she would roll out new policies in areas including health, education and housing in the coming weeks.

    Clark said her Labor-led government had brought about a remarkable transformation for the better in the country's economy and society.

    "This election is a choice between a government which has shown it can make difficult choices and an opposition which flip flops on almost every major issue," she said. "Labor is ambitious for New Zealand. National is ambiguous on New Zealand."

    Clark listed successes of her Labor-led Government but said much remained to be done.

    She cited cheaper doctors' fees, working for families, and interest-free student loans as some of the government's successes in this term.

    She told the press conference the opposition National Party had attacked every major Labor policy aimed at making life better for families.

    She said National's record showed it stood for a radically-different, backward-looking agenda.

    The naming of the date came after a tumultuous week for the government, during which Clark seemed poised to sack key ally Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First party, as a minister.

    Peters' future is in doubt after shipping billionaire Owen Glenn gave compelling evidence, including phone and email records, to back his claim that Peters asked for a 100,000 NZ dollars (66,000 U.S. dollars) donation toward his legal fees. Peters has denied the claim, but failed to give similar corroborating evidence on Wednesday.

    There was good news for the government, however, as the Reserve Bank on Thursday initiated a bigger than expected interest rate cut which saw an immediate fall in home loan rates at most major banks.

    Analysts said, with the economy likely to be a major election battleground, Labor will also be hoping for a lift once the first round of tax cuts take effect from Oct. 1.

    Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen said he thought those two factors would help pull the economy out of recession.

    The prime minister had previously refused to speculate on the timing of the polls.

    The last possible date was Nov. 15, which would have given candidates six weeks on the campaign trail after Parliament expires on Oct. 6.

    The Nov. 8 date will give Labor's Oct. 1 tax cuts time to take effect and give the party enough time to try to claw back National's poll lead.