Venkat Raman
Auckland, January 19, 2023
Jacinda Ardern’s decision to resign from the post of Prime Minister of New Zealand and the leadership of the Labour Party has sent ripples of anxiety across the political spectrum, plunging the Party itself into a leadership crisis.
She also announced that the general election will be held on October 14, 2023, which observers say will be nasty, dirty and name-calling.
Reactions from the world leaders have been adulatory, paying tributes to her ‘vision and leadership,’ but New Zealanders have not been so generous. Some reactions have been unfair and uncharitable. She is the second Prime Minister in 21st Century New Zealand to quit politics while in office, after John Key did so on December 5, 2016.
The announcement also came about an hour after National Party Leader Christopher Luxon reshuffled his Caucus, promoting Judith Collins to the top 10.
Please read that story coming up shortly.
Expected and yet surprising
Ms Ardern’s decision to quit politics was not entirely unexpected but her announcement that she will resign from the post of Prime Minister on February 7 and from Parliament in April (so as not to cause a by-election) caught the nation by surprise and kept diplomats and journalists busy throughout the day.
The exit of Andrew Little as the Leader of the Labour Party on August 1, 2017, less than eight weeks before the general election that year sent high notes of anxiety among the Labour Caucus and its allies, but the hoo-ha died down as quickly as it rose; in fact, it was so short-lived that it went almost unnoticed.
Ms Ardern, who emerged as the uncontested leader was initially seen as a candidate of convenience and an antidote to the smote that Labour had suffered since 2008.
She was in effect the instrument of painless change, orchestrating a move which could have otherwise caused ruptures. But she was quick to consolidate the Party, bring together the otherwise divided members of the Caucus and garner support from the Labour machinery nationwide. The Party saw in her a promise and rallied around her.
They were not disappointed.
The rise of a Prime Minister
While she revived her Party in the 2017 election, three years later, she swept the polls.
The Labour Party had never had it so good, certainly not since the advent of the Mixed Member Proportion (MMP) system in 1996. The Labour Party won 65 seats in Parliament in the general election 2020, a record in the electoral history of the country and Ms Ardern became the Brand Ambassador for Labour and an ideal leader that the world began to celebrate.
New Zealanders became an object of envy amidst political storms that were rocking many other OECD countries.
I have known her for almost 20 years, during which I have seen her as a young apprentice in the office of the then Prime Minister Helen Clark, Foreign Minister Phil Goff, as a candidate in Auckland Central and later Mt Albert, and as a nervous Deputy to Andrew Little.
She started well as the Leader of the Party and was installed as the Prime Minister in October 2017, thanks to the confidence and supply assured by Winston Peters and his New Zealand First Party. Her first term in office saw the biggest challenge not only to her role as a Leader but also to New Zealand as a nation and a community as a single entity. The terrorist attacks on Muslims while they were praying inside two Mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019 was the worst nightmare for any Prime Minister. The entire nation was in the grip of tragedy and fear.
Ms Ardern rose to the occasion, visited Christchurch with a few MPs including Ministers, and from the Opposition and comforted the grieving families. Some of us were with her and can vouch for the sincerity with which she showed her concern for the affected people.
She won the hearts of people around the world.
I have been a part of her media delegation to many countries, notably Fiji and Australia in February 2020 and July 2022.
She helped to rebuild a better relationship with the Bainimarama government and spoke her mind to then Prime Minister Scott Morrison about Australia’s decision to send back New Zealand citizens convicted of serious criminals.
“Don’t export your problems to us,” she said addressing a media conference. He did not relent and the rising crime in this country is attributed mainly to this move by Australia.
And then came Covid-19. The New Zealand media travelling with her was the first to know at the Government House in Sydney that the scary Corona Virus had arrived in this country.
During our journey back home, she was genuinely concerned about the health of our people and was worried about the management of the pandemic.
Ms Arden rose in status for handling the first phase of the pandemic deftly. Readers told us that controlling the spread of Covid-19 saved thousands of lives. Her efforts were rewarded in the general election in 2020.
Jacinda Ardern become the most popular leader in the world on many magazine covers and celebrity lists and she was applauded wherever she went and many said, “Come to our country and be our leader.”
But political popularity has never been a permanent feature anywhere.
The fall of Jacinda
The second and third phases of the pandemic, leading to lockdowns, created serious issues across New Zealand. Staying at home had its worst effect on people.
The long closure of borders leading to the separation of families, the rising crime and the worst-ever standoff in Parliament Square last year, well all factors that angered people even more.
Her style of governance and the public rage against the prolonged lockdown in 2021 had seen a sharp decline in her popularity, with the Labour Party declining in opinion polls.
The TV One News Kantar Poll, released on December 5, 2022, placed Labour at 31%, Greens at 9% and Maori at 2%, which was behind the right-wing block of National at 38% and ACT at 11%.
Although she remained on top as the ‘Preferred Prime Minister,’ with a 29% approval rate (down by 1% from the previous poll), she would have had to struggle to form the Labour government for the third time after the general election 2023.
In announcing her resignation, she displayed her honesty.
Honesty not strained
She said that she did not have enough energy to lead.
“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. I know that this job takes and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice,” she said.
Those who hate Ms Ardern may rejoice but that is for the petty-minded. To oppose a political leader based on his or her policies is one thing but to condemn another human is quite another.
In recent months, it became increasingly clear that Ms Ardern was losing support. As the cost of living crisis intensified, and as people began to worry about their future, she became their target.
I could guess what could have triggered her announcement today, based on the decision that she would have taken over the weekend- the last straw on the camel’s back, so to speak.
Politics is a dirty business and when and how it will consume the popularity of even the most charismatic leader cannot be foretold.
The exit of Jacinda Ardern will somewhat cease the existing volatility in politics but it would by no means end it. To say that she ‘destroyed the country’ is nonsensical.
Ms Ardern had her faults; her government did not fulfil many promises and many controversial and unnecessary legislations were introduced dividing our country and our society. She failed to see what was coming; and worse, those around her failed to counsel her properly.
Beyond all these drawbacks, it was a fact that Jacinda Ardern was incredibly hard-working and longed to spend weekends with her partner and their growing baby.
Beyond the trappings of the Office of the Prime Minister, she will get opportunities to become a spouse and see and daughter grow.
That would more than compensate for her loss of a job in the beehive.
We extend our good wishes to her and her family.
If Jacinda Ardern was not a perfect leader, show us one who is perfect.
