New Zealand gets a new prime minister. Jacinda Ardern announced in the night from Wednesday to Thursday that she wants to resign from her position on February 7. New parliamentary elections will take place on 14 October.
Ardern has been Prime Minister of New Zealand for almost six years. “I don’t have enough energy to lead this country anymore,” an emotional Ardern said in a taped speech. “The past few years have taken their toll. We give everything we can while we can, and then it’s time to stop. And for me, now is the time.”
Ardern said she hoped that during her summer vacation (the current season in New Zealand) she would be able to gather enough courage and energy to continue. “But I failed to do that, and it wouldn’t be fair to New Zealand to continue”.
It is not clear who will be her replacement. Her social democratic party Labor will hold internal elections on Sunday to elect a new leader, who will also become prime minister. Ardern expects her party to win the October elections without her.
Her party members were surprised at her decision, but can understand it, Ardern said.
Big political star
The 42-year-old Ardern was known as a major political star. She was appointed as New Zealand’s youngest-ever Prime Minister in October 2017. Even the largest opposition party once labeled her as “very impressive, approachable and down-to-earth“.
She received international attention for her response to the attack on two mosques in Christchurch, in which a neo-Nazi terrorist shot and killed 51 people. Ardern refused to name the gunman and tightened gun laws in New Zealand.
Ardern was the driving force behind New Zealand’s strict corona policy, which protected the country relatively well against the pandemic.
She was not completely without critics. Thanks to her corona lockdown, thousands of New Zealanders were unable to return to their homeland for years and protests against the vaccination policy were harshly suppressed by New Zealand standards.
Its iron grip on the Labor Party also meant that MPs who fell out of line were unceremoniously dismissed.
“Clarke, Let’s Get Married”
Ardern also grew into an international symbol of emancipation during her premiership. She took maternity leave during her premiership and took her brand new daughter Neve to parliament and the UN in New York, among other places, to continue to feed her.
Ardern’s partner Clarke Gayford was present at the press conference. She turned to him and the now four-year-old Neve for a moment. “Neve, Mum is looking forward to being there when you start school next year. And Clarke, let’s get married.”
The announcement also came as a surprise to her daughter. Ardern said she hadn’t told Neve yet. “Four-year-olds are chatterboxes, I couldn’t take that risk.”
