Jacinda Ardern Resigns: Outgoing NZ PM a Global Star but Handling of Domestic Issues Paint Another Picture

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern resigned from her role on Thursday morning throwing her party’s electoral plans into disarray ahead of a crucial election year.

Ardern, who gained global fame after she became the second Prime Minister to give birth in office. Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto was the first woman to give birth in office.

Her image of a mother in office, leading one of the world’s developed economies, gained her a cult status among those who considered themselves as progressive and left-leaning. Her child’s debut in the UN was also seen as a tribute to working mothers who face struggles trying to find a work-life balance.

This also displayed that amid the ruthlessness that politics brings – even more so for women leaders – someone like Ardern can handle that job with sympathy and kindness, a quality that she urged New Zealanders to remember in her resignation speech when they think of her in future.

“I hope I leave New Zealanders with a belief that you can be kind, but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focused. And that you can be your own kind of leader – one who knows when it’s time to go,” Ardern said.

Ardern was visibly emotional and choked while addressing the media while announcing her resignation.

Ardern’s image as a sympathetic yet tough leader developed when she earned international praise for handling the 2019 Christchurch Mosque shootings.

A 28-year-old Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant carried out two mass shootings – one in the Al Noor Mosque in the suburb of Riccarton and another in the Linwood Islamic Centre – killing 50 and injuring 41.

Ardern’s empathy towards New Zealand’s minor Muslim community and her insistence on not naming Tarrant as the perpetrator garnered praise from all corners of the world. Ardern’s picture where she was seen wearing a black headscarf and embracing family members who had lost loved ones went viral on social media.

When Donald Trump, often accused of spreading Islamophobia and being racist towards Muslims, called to offer condolences and asked Ardern what he could do, she replied: “Sympathy and love for all Muslim communities.”

However, back home, towards 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic hit, new challenges started emerging for Ardern. It remains to be seen in the coming years whether the Labour Party’s and Ardern’s policies affected its fortunes or not but problems were not visible in the beginning because Ardern led her party to a crushing victory in the 2020 elections.

Ardern promised to end child poverty but her plans were dented as Covid-19 impacted her plans. The Child Poverty Monitor Report report released in 2020 found out that many children continued to live in poverty and material hardship.

Ardern also tried to tackle incarceration rates among the Maori population but 50% of the prison population are still Maori.

Tax increases imposed by her government also led to her criticism, amid rising inflation. The National Party accused her party of being a ‘tax-and-spend party’ and pushing New Zealanders into higher tax brackets.

Her Covid Zero approach and vaccine mandates also angered right-leaning and far-right personalities. A protest, similar to the Canada Truckers’ protests, was staged on New Zealand’s parliament grounds and police officers and protesters also clashed with each other as the former tried to remove the protesters.

Whatever the reasons may be, Ardern’s resignation could prove costly for her party and could also see New Zealanders vote for a Conservative leader like Christopher Luxon of the National Party.

For Ardern, it appears that she knew when to stand her ground and when the moment arrived to walk away, she did.

“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,” an emotional Ardern said.

(with inputs from NZ Herald, Stuff, 1NZ and East Asia Forum)

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