New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced her resignation

His decision surprised New Zealanders. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Thursday, January 19 that she will be stepping down from office effective February 7.

At the annual meeting of the Labor Party he joined, the leader felt he did not have enough energy to carry out his mission:

“I am stepping down as a position with such great privileges comes with great responsibilities. Responsible for knowing when you are the right person to lead and when you are not. I know what this job requires. And I know I don’t have enough energy to do him justice. As simple as that. »

The Prime Minister also announced that general elections will be held in the country on October 14, 2023.

Jacinda Ardern, who has been in office since 2017, is a different kind of politician. Appointed Prime Minister at the age of 37, he was the youngest in his country’s history. The following year he also became the second head of government in the world to have a child during his tenure.

His management of the epidemic was praised

Best known in his country, he became a worldwide sensation after the March 2019 attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, which killed 51 people. The New Zealand prime minister has not hesitated to wear the veil to meet bereaved Muslim families, projecting an image of a tolerant and supportive leader. When US President Donald Trump asked her how to help her country after this attack by a white supremacist, Jacinda Ardern suggested sending. “Sympathy and Love for Muslims”.

Its management of the Covid-19 pandemic has also been praised: it quickly closed borders and opted for strict confinement. The voters didn’t hold it against him: in October 2020 Labor won its highest score for fifty years.

But the economic crisis caused by the pandemic has ended in recent months, and its popularity has plummeted.