An orphan wombat celebrates its first birthday

France Press agency

New Zealand: The race to replace Jacinda Ardern is on

The resignation of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, which took her country by surprise, paves the way for naming a successor of Maori descent, as few candidates have expressed interest in this higher post. & nbsp; Three days after Jacinda Ardern resigned, Labor will try to nominate her successor on Sunday. To become prime minister, he must receive two-thirds of the vote. If neither candidate succeeds, a long battle ensues involving members of the Labor Party and its affiliated trade unions. & nbsp; Chris Hipkins, 44, is the frontrunner in the polls after Grant Robertson, Jacinda Ardern’s running mate, dropped out of the race. Mr Hipkins, whose candidacy is considered a serious one, has been highly exposed in the media, as he was responsible for managing the Covid-19 crisis as well as the education and police portfolios. Sympathetic, solid and capable. Support the trade union movement in the country. & nbsp; At the moment, none of the three have formalized their candidacy. Maori prime minister? New Zealand has never been led by a Prime Minister of Maori descent. But former business attorney Kerry Allan may breach the glass ceiling on Sunday. & nbsp; Upon entering Parliament in 2017, Kerry Allan was quickly touted as a future leader, if not the first head of the original government. Maori in the country’s history. She was forced out of the chamber in April 2021 after doctors diagnosed her with stage three cervical cancer, but she returned to work just three months later. On Sunday, 15 Māori members of the Labor caucus hope to sway the polls. “It’s clear we would like to see a Maori prime minister one day,” Labor minister Kelvin Davis said. It was very important for Māori parliamentarians to have a voice. “We are talking about the prime minister of our nation, so we want to play a role,” he said. The Maori party, Te Pati Maori, said it was time for New Zealand to be led by a prime minister of Maori descent. Party leaders Debbie Ngarua-Packer and Ruiri Waititi warned in a statement: “Any other outcome would be Aotearoa (New Zealand’s official name in Maori, editor’s note) regressing after Jacinda Ardern.” 700 years ago. About 17% of New Zealand’s five million people now identify as Maori, according to the country’s latest census. Jacinda Ardern, 42, resigned on Thursday, saying she “doesn’t have enough energy” to continue ruling after five and a half years in power. And nine months from the legislative elections. During her tenure, she faced the Covid-19 pandemic, a deadly volcanic eruption and the country’s worst ever attack, the killing of 51 Muslim worshipers at two Christchurch mosques by a white supremacist. at 2019.cf/sft/qan/rr/lpa/jnd