Jacinda Ardern resigns as prime minister! New Zealand Prime Minister Ms. Ardern is resigning before the upcoming election. Because she does not feel she has “enough in the tank” to lead the country.
She made the surprising announcement the day polls showed her Labour Party was in danger at the October 14 election.
Ms. Ardern became upset as she described the impact of six “difficult” years in the role.
On Sunday, Labor Party lawmakers will cast ballots to choose her successor.
Ms. Ardern, 42, said she had thought about her future over the summer holiday to re-motivate herself.
But I haven’t, and it would be a disservice to New Zealand if I continued, she told reporters on Thursday.
Before the 7th of February, Ms. Ardern will have stepped down. If no Labour leader gets two-thirds of the party room’s support, the membership will vote.
New Zealand elected Ms. Jacinda Ardern as prime minister in 2017 at the age of 37, making history.
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Later that same year, she became the second elected world leader to give birth in office. The same as of Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto in 1990.
She oversaw the COVID-19 epidemic, recession, Christchurch mosque massacres, and White Island eruption.
Ms. Ardern stated that the last five and a half years as prime minister were the “most fulfilling” of her life. Even though they were the most challenging due to the “crisis,” the country was experiencing.
“These happenings… have been draining due to their sheer magnitude and persistence. Never have we felt like we were merely in charge of things.”
One of the many people to thank Ms. Ardern “for her service to New Zealand” was National Party leader Chris Luxon.
She has “given her all to this incredibly demanding job,” the opposition leader tweeted.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised Ms. Ardern for being a leader with intelligence, strength, and compassion.
“Jacinda has been a powerful advocate for New Zealand, an inspiration to many many, and a great friend,” he wrote.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised her “immeasurable” impact.
Despite Ms. Ardern’s international celebrity status, polls show that her popularity at home is declining.
Her government’s early pandemic reaction helped the Labour Party win a landslide election in 2020.
However, since the election, the most recent polls show that her popularity and that of her party are at an all-time low.
In 2022, Ms. Jacinda Ardern explained to the BBC that her dwindling popularity was the cost of protecting the public from Covid-19.
But she also has to deal with a backlog of election promises that were made before the pandemic. However, it was put on hold while the country dealt with the rising cost of living and heightened security concerns.
There has been a wide range of responses to her statement. To escape being “thrown out,” as one Auckland resident told the NZ Herald.
She is “one of the greatest prime ministers in New Zealand’s history,” according to some, including Auckland Pride’s Max Tweedie.
Sam Neill, a New Zealand actor, claimed “bullies” and “misogynists” treated Ms. Ardern “disgracefully”.
“She deserved so much better,” the Jurassic Park actor tweeted.
But Ms. Ardern stressed that she was not resigning because she and the party were unpopular.
We need new blood to take on this challenge, but I’m not leaving because I don’t think we can win the election.
Contenders for the job are yet to emerge, but several MPs – including deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson – have ruled themselves out of the contest.
Ms. Ardern listed her government’s achievements on climate change, social housing, and reducing child poverty as ones she was particularly proud of.
But she said she hoped her legacy in New Zealand would be “as someone who always tried to be kind.”
“I hope I leave New Zealanders with the belief that you can be kind but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focused. And that you have the potential to be a leader in your own right, one who is decisive when the time is right to depart, “…she remarked.
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