Jacinda Ardern to resign as New Zealand PM. Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, announced that she will resign at the end of the month because she no longer had “enough in the tank” to carry out her duties.
“I’m leaving because with such a privileged role comes responsibility,” said Ardern, the head of the country’s Labour Party, who was elected to her first term five and a half years ago. “To know when you’re the right person to lead and also when you are not.”
Ardern, 42, announced she would not run for re-election and would step down no later than February 7 on Thursday afternoon local time (7 p.m. ET Wednesday).
“This has been the most fulfilling 5 1/2 years of my life, but it has also had its challenges,” she told reporters. “Amongst an agenda focused on housing, child poverty, and climate change, we encountered a major biosecurity incursion, a domestic terror event, a major natural disaster, a global pandemic, and an economic crisis.”
“The decisions that have had to be made have been continual, and they have been weighty,” she said.
The party has seven days to determine if a new leader has more than two-thirds of caucus support, she said. A vote will occur on Jan 22.
If a new leader is selected, Ardern said she will resign soon after and a new prime minister will be sworn in. If not, the vote will go to the wider party membership, she said.
Ardern said she plans to remain in parliament until April. “Beyond that, I have no plan, no next steps,” she said. “All I know is whatever I do I will try to find ways to ways to keep working for New Zealand.”
Ardern had faced a tough election campaign this year. Her liberal Labour Party won reelection two years ago in a landslide of historic proportions, but recent polls have put her party behind its conservative rivals.
She received praise from all over the world for how her nation initially handled the coronavirus epidemic when New Zealand was able to contain the virus at its borders for months. However, once it was confronted by new variations and vaccines were accessible, it abandoned its zero-tolerance policy.
At home, she received harsher criticism for the overly rigid approach.
In December, Ardern made the announcement that a Royal Commission of Inquiry will examine the government’s handling of Covid-19 and how it can better prepare for any pandemic. Next year is when it must report.
