He appointed Chris Hipkins as Prime Minister following the resignation of Jacinda Adern

He will have the heavy task of succeeding one of the most famous leaders on the planet. Former New Zealand anti-corruption official COVID-19 pandemic “He can get things done,” said Chris Hipkins on Saturday, January 21, after he was chosen to replace him. Resigned Jacinda Ardern as prime minister.

The sole candidate to succeed Jacinda Ardern, Chris Hipkins, 44, must be formally appointed Sunday by the ruling party leadership before he becomes his country’s 41st prime minister.

“The Labor Party will meet at 1pm on Sunday to ratify the nomination and confirm Chris Hipkins as party leader,” said Duncan Webb, a party executive.

The new prime minister will be responsible for leading his party into the general elections in October, for which he is not the candidate, according to opinion polls.

“I like to think of myself as someone who is determined and can get things done,” he told reporters outside parliament in the capital, Wellington, believing he could win the October 14 election.

Jacinda Ardern, a pioneer of global progressive politics, stunned New Zealand when she announced her sudden removal from power, less than three years after winning a second term. After a landslide victory in the elections.

During her tenure, she faced the Covid-19 pandemic, a deadly volcanic eruption and To the worst attack ever committed in the country51 Muslim worshipers were killed at two mosques in Christchurch by a white supremacist in 2019.

‘The leader we need’

Jacinda Ardern said her decision to step down was “tinged with sadness”, but after her announcement she “slept well for the first time in a long time”.

Political commentators have collectively condemned inappropriate comments on social media targeting Jacinda Ardern before her resignation.

Jacinda Ardern suffered an “absolutely unbearable vitriol,” asserted her successor, who paid tribute to “the leader we needed, when we needed her.”

Chris Hipkins is widely regarded as an experienced politician, with over 14 years in Parliament.

Political columnist Josie Pagani described him as “sensitive, sympathetic, tough and competent”.

For his part, Christopher Luxon, the leader of the country’s main opposition party, the center-right National Party, congratulated Chris Hipkins, saying that “just changing the head of the Labor Party is not enough. For the people of New Zealand.” .

“The truth is that he was a key piece of a government that failed to do anything,” he said.

The appointment of Chris Hipkins also ended speculation that Justice Minister Kerry Allan could have become the first Maori to govern New Zealand.

The latter congratulated Chris Hipkins, saying he would make an “incredibly strong Prime Minister”.

Chris Hepkins has been hailed for nearly two years as the minister responsible for combating Covid-19 in a country that closed its borders to stave off the pandemic and reopened them in August 2022.

He admitted last year that people were tired of the tough restrictions against the pandemic, especially the border closures.

With Agence France-Presse