Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick welcomed Opportunity into Parliament but said "it's time to pick a side".
She said there was a "pathway to power" for the left bloc, and was waiting to see what changes occurred after the special votes come in.
Opportunity, lead by Qiulae Wong, enters parliament for the first time with 6% of the vote and seven seats.
"If we end up with TOP choosing the side of those who have the greatest policy alignment, and I believe the greatest values alignment, then we have the opportunity to form a government that centres people and planet, as opposed to extracting from and exploiting both."
Live: Election a 'bittersweet result'– National campaign chair
She said Opportunity now "has a choice".
"They don't get to sit on the fence any more, and I would want them to choose positivity and optimism for the future of our country."
She said the campaign as a whole "left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth".
"Just how nasty and how cruel things got. The National Party had five times the number of donations that the Green Party did, and they set us almost exclusively in their sights.
"Especially for those final few weeks, trying to paint particularly myself as the bogeyman, for daring to proffer the idea that we could have a fairer tax system in this country to fix our emergency departments, ensure that nature is healthy, and that our young people have jobs, that we are proud of this country."
When asked about working Opportunity, National's campaign chair Simeon Brown said National was "quite confident" it could form a Government with the current coalition parties.
He said an alternative scenario, should things change, was a hung Parliament.
"A hung Parliament would ultimately mean another election.
"That would be a call for the Prime Minister to make.
"I don't think New Zealanders would be wanting to go back to the polls."
'Bittersweet result'
Simeon Brown says his party is in a good position to form the next government, but will be losing some senior MPs. (Source: Q and A)
He called last night's result "bittersweet".
"We are in a position, and we're feeling relatively confident at this stage with the way that the results have fallen.
"But of course, it's bittersweet in that fact that we've lost some significant people."
That includes Nicola Willis, Gerry Brownlee, Paul Goldsmith and likely Chris Bishop.
Despite being down from its result in the 2023 election, Brown said it was "always going to be a challenging election".
"I think we've been at 29% most of this year. I think that's the reality. That's what it was when I took over the role earlier this year. It's been an incredibly challenging time."
He did not think a vote-splitting campaign, encouraging voters to vote for National in their electorate and give their party vote to others on the right, worked.
"Our party votes stayed pretty consistent throughout the campaign, and we've always had strength in electorates up and down the country.
"There's a whole lot of seats which could have run a lot closer, but these are MPs who've worked their electorates incredibly well over three years and deservedly got those results."
'There are the uncertainties with the specials' - Jones
Q+A's Jack Tame talks to Shane Jones after an action-packed election night (Source: Q and A)
NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones said the party's 9.8% result last night, which would grow their caucus next term, was an "improvement".
"I'm an optimist. I approach politics where the cup is always half full and heading towards brimming over. So we just have to accept that there are the uncertainties with the specials."
He said the election result revealed people were "deeply concerned" about the cost of living.
Asked if vote-splitting helped the coalition, Jones highlighted how many electorates in the 2020 election stuck with their National MPs but gave their party vote to Labour.
"It's not as if Tory voters haven't had experience with splitting their votes, and I would suggest that we are modest beneficiaries of that.
"I suspect we got quite a lot of our votes as well from Labour, who want to see a more muscular approach to industry policy, the preservation of jobs, and the Crown willing to underwrite the continued existence of enterprises in regional New Zealand, where people are fearful their existences are going to be hollowed out."
While he said there was no way NZ First could work with anyone from the left bloc, he was more ambiguous on Opportunity.
"Let's just wait until what the specials reveal; we're happy that it appears we're going to have the opportunity to retain the three elements that comprise our coalition Government since 2023."
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