In her five years as prime minister, Jacinda Ardern has made small New Zealand famous, becoming a global hero in politics and women in leadership, despite her domestic struggles with the economy and COVID-19 limitations.
The 42-year-old, who earned notoriety for wearing a hijab and bringing her child to a United Nations meeting after a massacre of Muslims, said on Thursday that she will resign in less than three weeks, claiming she had “no more in the tank.”
Throughout her turbulent tenure, New Zealand’s youngest prime minister in more than a century urged her citizens to “be strong, be kind,” but her compassionate leadership and adept handling of crises frequently concealed the faults of her administration.
Ardern, who is regarded as likable and engaging, used her ability to speak from the heart and maintain a positive attitude in the face of adversity to win voters in 2017 and again in 2020, ushering in the country’s first wholly left-leaning administration in decades.
Unprecedented occurrences for the island nation of 5 million people occurred under her rule, including the 2019 killing of 51 Muslim worshipers in Christchurch by a white supremacist, the eruption of the White Island volcano, and the pandemic the following year.
“I hope I leave New Zealanders with a belief that you can be kind but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focussed,” Ardern said in an emotional resignation announcement. “And that you can be your own kind of leader – one who knows when it’s time to go.”
With more than half of the MPs being women and the largest proportion of Maori lawmakers who are native to New Zealand, Ardern presided over the country’s most diverse parliament in 2020, garnering international attention.
She was one of the first heads of state to close borders and implement a zero-tolerance policy in response to the COVID outbreak, protecting New Zealanders from the virus and keeping death rates much below those of other developed countries.
However, her “go hard, go early” strategy, which included a statewide lockdown due to a single virus, wasn’t well received by everyone.
While Ardern’s popularity increased abroad, she struggled to demonstrate that her leadership went beyond crisis management and kindness at home, where she faced growing political obstacles.
Her popularity has declined recently as a result of the deteriorating housing crisis, increased living expenses and mortgage rates, and rising crime fears. She is still more well-liked than her competitors, though.
Despite Ardern’s claims of transformational leadership, mistakes have hampered her initiatives for affordable housing. Progress has been slow, even on climate change, which Ardern termed “my generation’s nuclear-free moment.”
While Ardern’s popularity increased abroad, she struggled to demonstrate that her leadership went beyond crisis management and kindness at home, where she faced growing political obstacles.
Her popularity has declined recently as a result of the deteriorating housing crisis, increased living expenses and mortgage rates, and rising crime fears. She is still more well-liked than her competitors, though.
Despite Ardern’s claims of transformational leadership, mistakes have hampered her initiatives for affordable housing. Progress has been slow, even on climate change, which Ardern termed “my generation’s nuclear-free moment.”
Source: Reuters
