Wellington, 19 January 2023 (GNP): Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, announced that she is going to quilt the Office before the next general elections due this year.
She said that six years as the prime minister of New Zealand was a very grueling task and that she had not enough energy now to continue as the prime minister of the country.
The ruling Labor Party would select the new prime minister on Sunday. This is a shock for the Labor Party ahead of October’s general elections.
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She added that after a thorough and deep analysis during the summer break, she came to the conclusion that it would be a disservice to her country if she continued with no energy and zeal for work.
Jacinda Ardern will step down on 7 February. If any of the contestants contesting for the premiership failed to get two-thirds support of the party room, then lay members of the Labor Party would decide about the new prime minister of the country.
Jacinda Ardern, 42, became the youngest female prime minister of New Zealand in 2017. She was then 37 years old.
It is interesting to note that the late Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto became the prime minister of the country when she was 35 years old. Both give birth to their first child when they are in the Office.
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During her tenure in the office, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern steered her country through the coronavirus pandemic, Christchurch mosque killing, and volcanic eruption in the White Island.
Meanwhile, the opposition leader Chris Luxon of the National Party, thanked Jacinda Ardern for her strong and memorable service to the country.
Australian and Canadian prime ministers also expressed their warm feelings for their Kiwi counterparts.
While globally, she was projected as a political star at home, and her popularity quickly declined. She accepted that this dwindling popularity is the price her government and party have to pay for strict measures they took for coronavirus prevention. But critics count some other factors like inflation, emerging social disturbance in the society and not fulfilling their electoral promises.