jacinda ardern announces resignation as new zealand prime minister after six years in power
jacinda ardern announces resignation as new zealand prime minister after six years in power Ne90'dan bulabilirsiniz
Jacinda Ardern is stepping down as New Zealand's prime minister : NPR
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday announced her intent to step down in a shock move that rocked the country's political landscape.
Speaking to her party's annual caucus in the seaside town of Napier, 42-year-old Ardern said "it's time" for her to move on and that she "no longer had enough in the tank" for her premiership. She also called for a general election on Oct. 14.
"I'm leaving, because with such a privileged role comes responsibility," Ardern told her audience. "The responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not. I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It's that simple."
Ardern became the world's youngest female leader in 2017 at the age of 37. Her last day in the office will be Feb. 7.
"This is not something we were expecting today," said Geoffrey Miller, a geopolitical analyst with the Wellington-based nonprofit Democracy Project. "It was something that commentators had thought of and have been asking since the end of last year ... and she quite convincingly said she was going to stay, and that she wasn't going anywhere."
The last six years have been busy for Ardern, managing disasters and tragedies that propelled her to global superstardom, Miller said. From the COVID-19 pandemic and a volcanic eruption to the terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, he said Ardern has become much more well known than any New Zealand prime minister in the past.
"In many ways, she was the anti-Trump figure," Miller said. "They both came into office in 2017 ... but she went off to the United Nations and she decried isolationism, brandishing an image of being an internationalist or being a globalist."
New Zealand's relationship with China was probably her biggest foreign policy sticking point, Miller said, with Ardern always having to walk a line between souring relations with China and the fact that Beijing is Wellington's largest trading partner.
"But she had to try and find a way forward," Miller said. "And I think her consensus approach helped with this, but at the same time, she wasn't immune to these bigger geopolitical trends."
Meanwhile, at home, things haven't been going so well for Ardern. Her popularity took a dive in 2022, as New Zealanders criticized her handling of the economy amid tough COVID restrictions and growing inflation.
"I mean, for the American audience it is probably a bit like how Barack Obama was perceived, we globally everyone thought he was amazing, but then domestically, he was, he was less popular," said David Cormack with the government relations firm Draper Cormack Group in Wellington.
He said Ardern's popularity took a major hit following multiple, lengthy lockdowns on Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city.
"She went from this unifying force to this incredibly polarizing and divisive force," said Cormack, also the former Green Party head of communications and policy, said. "There were still a lot of people that loved her, but there were a lot of people that had liked her that no longer did, and the feeling towards her seemed really visceral."
As COVID-19 started slipping from the headlines, other domestic challenges arose, including more crime and rising mortgage interest rates, he said.
Now, New Zealanders are saying they want change in the October general election.
Recent polling ahead of the election shows Ardern's Labour Party slightly behind the opposing New Zealand National Party. Analysts expect the election to be hard-fought.
Meanwhile, it is unclear who will lead the caretaker government after Ardern's departure in February.
But it is not expected to be Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robinson of the Labour Party, a move that analysts say could add some discontinuity in Wellington. However, there is also speculation that Ardern's departure will give time for a new leader of the Labour Party to rise before New Zealanders go to the polls later this year.
Yazı kaynağı : www.npr.org
Jacinda Ardern to Resign as Prime Minister of New Zealand | Time
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a surprise announcement on Thursday that she will step down next month as the leader of the South Pacific nation and that she will not seek re-election later this year.
“I believe that leading a country is the most privileged job anyone could ever have but also one of the more challenging. You cannot and should not do it unless you have a full tank plus a bit in reserve for those unexpected challenges,” she told the media at a news conference.
“I will not be seeking re-election. My term as Prime Minister will conclude no later than the 7th of February,” a visibly emotional Ardern said, adding that she will stay on as a member of parliament until April.
Ardern, who became Prime Minister in 2017 at the age of 37, enjoyed immense popularity at home and gained even more star power abroad due to her deft handling of three unexpected crises: shootings at Christchurch mosques in 2019 that left 51 people dead, a deadly volcanic eruption in December 2019, and the global pandemic.
She was thrust into the international spotlight by the mosque attack. Less than 24 hours after the shooting rampage, she donned a black headscarf to meet members of the Muslim community, earning praise for her compassionate response. She quickly led a push to make meaningful gun legislation reforms.
Ardern received praise again for her empathetic leadership style when photos circulated of her hugging first responders after a volcanic eruption that killed more than 20 people.
New Zealand had one of the most successful pandemic responses in the world, and Ardern, who was lauded for her clear communication and science-backed decisions, enjoyed a boost in her already high popularity, although she faced some criticism at home over the strictness of the country’s zero-tolerance strategy.
But she indicated on Thursday that dealing with such heavy burdens of leadership had taken a toll on her. “After going on six years of some big challenges, I am human,” she said. “Politicians are human. We give all that we can for as long as we can, and then it’s time.”
Ardern won re-election in 2020, buoyed by her response to the pandemic, despite the country slipping into its deepest recession in decades. But the progressive leader’s domestic popularity waned in recent months—mainly over economic issues—and there were doubts she would be able to clinch another term in the next election, scheduled for October. Polls in December showed approval for her Labor Party at around 33%, some of the lowest results during Ardern’s leadership.
“I am not leaving because I believe we can’t win the election but because I believe we can and will, and we need a fresh set of shoulders for that challenge.”
As for what she will do next, “I have no plan,” Ardern said. “All I know is that whatever I do, I will try to find ways to keep working for New Zealand, and I’m looking forward to spending time with my family once again.”
Write to Amy Gunia at [email protected].
Yazı kaynağı : time.com
Jacinda Ardern to step down as New Zealand prime minister
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared during a press conference held in Napier that February 7, 2023, will be her last day in office. Fighting back tears, she announced she will remain a lawmaker until then, adding she had given her "absolute all" during her nearly six years in office but didn't have the reserve to serve another term.
Ardern declared to the press that her time in office had been fulfilling but challenging: "But I am not leaving because it was hard. Had that been the case I probably would have departed two months into the job. I am leaving because with such a privileged role, comes responsibility, the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead, and also when you are not. I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple."
Decisive policy action
A fresh-faced Ardern was elected prime minister in 2017, and in a tumultuous first term faced New Zealand's worst terror attack, a deadly volcanic eruption, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Just 37 years old at the time, she became the country's youngest prime minister since 1856 and a global icon for progressive politics.
She had been in office barely 18 months when a white supremacist gunman opened fire in two Christchurch mosques during Friday prayers, killing 51 Muslim worshippers and wounding another 40. Her deft and compassionate response to the rampage of hate defined the charismatic center-left leader's image around the world. When she donned a headscarf and comforted victims' families after the shooting, it resonated globally. She would later describe it as a spontaneous gesture of respect to the Muslim community.
Ardern also won plaudits for decisive policy action, including swiftly enacted gun law reforms and a push to force social media giants to address online hate speech. The New Zealand public emphatically backed her performance, giving her a second three-year term in October 2020.
'Jacinda-mania'
Ardern grew up in the North Island hinterland, where her father was a police officer. She credits the poverty she saw there with shaping her beliefs. Raised as a Mormon, Ardern left the faith in her 20s due to its stance against homosexuality.
After completing a communications degree, Ardern began her political career in former prime minister Helen Clark's office before heading to Britain to work as a policy adviser in Tony Blair's government.
She was elected to parliament in 2008 and in March 2017 became Labour's deputy leader, saying at the time that she was not ambitious and saw herself as a backroom staffer.
Ardern transformed from self-described "policy nerd" to prime minister on a wave of "Jacinda-mania" after being thrust into the Labour leadership just seven weeks before the 2017 election. She made headlines again a year later when she became only the second prime minister in the world to give birth while in office – after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto in 1990.
Arden was lauded globally for her country's initial handling of the Covid-19 pandemic after New Zealand managed for months to stop the virus at its borders. But that zero-tolerance strategy was abandoned once it was challenged by new variants and vaccines became available. She faced tougher criticism at home that the strategy was too strict. Ardern has constantly urged New Zealanders during the coronavirus crisis to "be kind", appealing for a unified approach from what she terms a "team of five million."
The incumbent prime minister had just faced a tough election campaign: her liberal Labour Party won reelection two years ago in a landslide of historic proportions, but recent polls have put her party behind its conservative rivals.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led international tributes to Ardern, saying she had "shown the world how to lead with intellect and strength". "She has demonstrated that empathy and insight are powerful leadership qualities," he said.
The official spokesman for Rishi Sunak said the British Prime Minister was "grateful to Prime Minister Ardern and for her friendship and support during his premiership".
White House spokeswoman Olivia Dalton said President Joe Biden and the United States "are grateful to Prime Minister Ardern for her leadership and advancing a free and open Indo Pacific and for her efforts to strengthen the United States and the New Zealand partnership."
Yazı kaynağı : www.lemonde.fr
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