New Zealand: Exhausted, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern resigns

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation Thursday, January 19, due to a state of exhaustion. She was in power for five and a half years.

Complete surprise. Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, who is very popular abroad, has resigned from her post. Exhausted, she confided with so much emotion that she “simply did not have enough energy for another four years.” His resignation will take effect on February 7.

“I am a human being. We give everything we can and for as long as we can, and that’s when it’s time. That moment has come for me,” Jacinda Ardern added. The Prime Minister explained that she had tried to take advantage of the parliamentary summer recess to regain energy for governance, to no avail. She emphasized that “ Do not regret”.

Jacinda Ardern also shrugged off the notion that her decision was justified by opinion polls giving Labor, where she comes from, losing to a centre-right coalition in the next general election in nine months’ time.

“I’m not leaving because I think we can’t win the next election, but because I think we can and we will,” she said.

I add, “I am leaving because with such an outstanding position comes a great responsibility. A responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead, as well as when you are not.”

Popular record

Jacinda Ardern became prime minister in a coalition government in 2017, before leading the centre-left Labor Party to a landslide victory in the next election three years later.

The mandate was not easy as it was marked by, among other things, the Covid-19 pandemic and the worst attack ever in the country, against mosques in Christchurch. On March 15, 2019, white supremacist Brenton Tarrant murdered 51 Muslim worshipers during Friday prayers.

If in New Zealand it enjoyed record popularity for a long time – the media even talked about “Jacindamania” – recently its rating has fallen due to the economic situation in the country.

His resignation will take effect on February 7, and Labor will vote to appoint a new leader within three days. Jacinda Ardern will not leave politics forever as she has specified that she will continue to exercise her term as an MP until the general election on October 14.