Jacinda Ardern, who became a global
liberal icon as New Zealand’s prime minister but faced deepening political
challenges with an election looming at home, said in a surprise announcement on
Thursday that she would step down as the country’s leader.
اضافة اعلان
In a tearful speech in the New Zealand city
of Napier, where Ardern’s Labor Party was hosting its summer caucus retreat,
she said she did not feel personally prepared to complete another term. She
will leave office by February 7, she said.
“I believe that leading a country is the
most privileged job anyone could ever have, but also one of the more
challenging,” Ardern said. “You cannot and should not do it unless you have a
full tank plus a bit in reserve for those unexpected challenges.”
She added: “This has been the most
fulfilling five-and-a-half years of my life. I am leaving because with such a
privileged job comes a big responsibility.”
Labor lawmakers will elect a new leader of
the party — and the country — in three days’ time, Ardern said.
Hero of the global leftArdern, 42, became prime minister in 2017
and won a historic reelection in 2020, largely on the strength of New Zealand’s
response to COVID-19, which allowed residents to live a mostly normal life for
much of the pandemic. But her party has since fallen sharply in the polls amid
economic troubles and some highly publicized instances of violent crime.
“I believe that leading a country is the most privileged job anyone could ever have, but also one of the more challenging.”
Soon after her unexpected rise to power, as
New Zealand’s youngest prime minister in 150 years, Ardern became something of
an international celebrity. She had a daughter while in office and brought her
to the floor of the United Nations. To admirers, she became the sunny face of
progressivism, and a welcome alternative to the politics represented by
then-President Donald Trump in the US.
But it was her response in 2019 to the
massacre of 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, by a gunman espousing
anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant hatred, that solidified her image as a hero of the
global left.
“We represent diversity, kindness,
compassion. A home for those who share our values. Refuge for those who need
it,” she said at the time of New Zealand. Within a week, Ardern had imposed
temporary restrictions on the purchase of guns, followed by the passing of a
law a few weeks later that banned most semi-automatic weapons.
Ardern said she had informed party members
earlier on Thursday of her decision to resign. She said would remain a member
of Parliament for her electorate in the city of Auckland until April, in order
to avoid the need for a by-election.
Times of turmoilLabor has been facing major political
challenges ahead of the October 14 election. For almost a year, the party has
polled behind the center-right National Party, led by Christopher Luxon, a
former aviation executive. As of December, support for Labor was at 33 percent,
compared with 38 percent for the National Party.
Still, Ardern has remained personally
popular with the electorate. She has regularly outperformed Luxon in polls as
most New Zealanders’ “preferred prime minister”.
Luxon said last month that the polls showed
New Zealanders felt the country was going in the “wrong direction”. He added:
“What they can see is a government that’s just not getting things done.”
Voters are principally concerned about the
many economic issues the country faces. Home prices in New Zealand, which
surged over the past decade, fell 12 percent in 2022. Borrowers, most of whom
are able to fix their mortgage rate for only a few years at a time, are at high
risk of negative equity, as they balance a high cost of living and surging
inflation with the twin challenges of falling home prices and rising interest
rates.
A perceived rise in violent crime,
including high-profile incidents in which employees of corner stores have been
attacked and in one case killed, has also contributed to a sense of
dissatisfaction.
Big shoes to fillBen Thomas, a political commentator and
former press secretary for the National Party, said Ardern’s resignation would
come as a surprise for many New Zealanders and could spell disaster for Labor.
“She’s Labor’s number one political asset,”
he said. “It would very much be a personal decision to step down, as opposed to
a considered strategy about what would be best for Labor in the election.”
“It would very much be a personal decision to step down, as opposed to a considered strategy about what would be best for Labor in the election.”
In her remarks, Ardern addressed her partner
— television presenter Clarke Gayford — and their five-year-old daughter Neve.
They were, she said, “the ones that have sacrificed the most out of all of us.”
“To Neve: Mum is looking forward to being
there when you start school this year,” she said. “And to Clarke — let’s
finally get married.”
In resigning almost a year before a general
election, Ardern follows closely in the footsteps of a recent predecessor, John
Key, who stepped down in 2016, allowing his deputy, Bill English, to take his
place as leader of the National Party and prime minister.
But there is no obvious successor to
Ardern. Grant Robertson, Labor’s deputy leader, will not seek the leadership,
Ardern said. Any candidate seeking to lead Labor must have the support of at
least two-thirds of its lawmakers — a requirement that raises the prospect of a
power vacuum, prolonged infighting, and a relative newcomer, at least in
voters’ eyes, leading the party and the country.
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