Jacinda Ardern’s resignation speaks volumes about New Zealand politics

After nearly six years at the helm of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern’s tenure as prime minister will end on February 7, as her Labor Party slumps in the polls and the country looks poised for recession.

It was also the end of at least one phase of international supremacy. Ardern is famous not because of New Zealand’s prominence in the international order, but because of who she is, and her particular response to national and international disasters that defines her position. He was celebrated for his leadership through the white supremacist mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, and through the Covid-19 crisis – two moments that put him in stark contrast to the bombastic, autocratic. leaders like former US President Donald Trump and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, in addition to making her a symbol for young women in leadership.

Citing burnout after five-and-a-half years in office, Ardern announced Thursday that she will step down before the end of her term and will not seek re-election. “I know there will be a lot of discussion after this decision about the so-called ‘real’ reasons,” he said at a press conference Thursday. “The only interesting angle you’ll find is that after six years of some big challenges, I’m human.”

Ardern was not the first female prime minister in New Zealand’s history, but she became the youngest PM and gave birth while in office, thrusting her into the international spotlight as a young feminist leader at a time – at least in many Western countries and the US in particular – when older apparently to maintain a grip on power despite social progress.

But domestic politics, not international acclaim, determine a country’s leadership in a democracy, and Ardern’s Labor Party has fallen in the polls due to the economic fallout from the Covid-19 crisis. and the poor child – one of Ardern’s – continues to rise, brings about dissatisfaction from both left and right.

By every metric imaginable, Ardern met the moment during two major crises that defined her administration, and her gifts for communication, empathy, and collaboration matched those crises. He remains popular within the Labor Party and, to date, is more popular than the mainstream party in public opinion polls. However, as the economic situation changes and New Zealanders look to move on from Covid-19, Ardern’s partner in the conservative National Party, Christopher Luxon, has gained ground in the polls, suggesting that a Labor majority win in 2020 could end in October, when Ardern has been called for the election.

Although Ardern’s announcement surprised international observers, it may not have surprised New Zealanders, Kathy Smits, professor of politics and international relations at the University of Auckland, told Vox. “The historical example that really comes to my mind, and to a lot of people’s minds, is in post-war England – [Winston] Churchill was voted out in 1945. He led Britain through the war and became an incredibly popular prime minister, but people were ready for change,” he said. “I think in this environment, something similar is happening.”

Like many countries around the world, New Zealand is ready for change

Ardern rightly won international praise for her response to the 2019 shootings at the Al Noor mosque and Linwood Islamic Center in Christchurch, which killed 51 people. The shooters were neo-Nazis and white nationalists who used semi-automatic weapons to carry out the massacre. Ardern immediately connected to the Muslim community and the government’s commitment to pay the funeral costs for the victims. His firm but emotional and empathetic response marked him on the international stage early in his leadership; His proposal shortly after taking to ban semiautomatic weapons, too, shows the ability to act boldly in the public interest.

This is in stark contrast to the US which, despite its consistent mass shootings, has far too many failed to make meaningful policy changes, preventing the Bill of compliance reforms passed at the end of the year.

“The thing that Jacinda is really good at is communication – the kind of symbolic dimension of leadership, bringing people together. She’s really good at it,” Smits said.

But as important as Ardern’s global profile is, little is known about the political realities of domestic democracy. Inflation continues to wreak havoc on economies around the world; in New Zealand, which plays out mainly in the housing market. Many New Zealanders make their income through real estate – owning and renting property. But skyrocketing house prices, explained Smits, combined with high interest rates, have crippled New Zealand’s economic sector and helped push the country into recession. It also squeezed the housing market, making affordable housing difficult for many New Zealanders to find.

Ardern has also failed to make significant progress on child poverty in New Zealand, which is among the highest in the Western world. “It’s really shocking,” Smits said, particularly among the Maori and Pacific populations. Although Ardern’s government has managed to reduce the percentage of children living in poverty during its tenure, critics say the government has not gone far enough, especially since it is one of its key policy issues.

Furthermore, New Zealand has a relatively low tax rate, even though the tax or revenue is needed to fund social programs such as those that can alleviate childhood poverty. But Ardern’s party has refused to introduce a capital gains tax – with Ardern saying such a tax increase would not happen under her leadership.

These domestic issues leave Labor vulnerable from both the right and the left; more advanced politicians and Voters disappointed with the party’s inability to make a real and significant headway on social issues – in part because the government is willing to take the necessary measures to raise money that will support social programs, said Smits.

But perhaps more than defeat for Labor, the next election can be more than a return to form for the New Zealand Parliament, which operates in a proportional system of mixed members. It means that one party is unlikely to get a clear and large number of seats, requiring a coalition government.

And after several years of crisis in the National Party, opposition leader Christopher Luxon seems to have strengthened the party’s position enough to attract some Labor defectors, Smits said, although it is too early to say what the results of the next election will be.

It’s not just New Zealand that is ready for change; Brazil’s Bolsonaro was ousted by former President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva last year. In Italy, right-wing Giorgia Meloni replaced technocratic Prime Minister Mario Draghi last year, and in 2021, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stepped down after 16 years in power.

Ardern’s impact is significant and will far outweigh her government’s shortcomings

Western feminists have embraced Ardern, and rightly so, as a politician who balances power with compassion; a woman who had a baby while also guiding her country through some of the most challenging years in recent memory.

Leaders are like that Hillary ClintonDirector General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesusand former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard tweeted in support of Ardern and the impact of her time in office, with Gillard saying, “Her example has been a shining light to many, especially women.”

Ardern’s symbolic impact, in addition to her leadership, may be a major part of her legacy. Ardern took her son, Neve, to a United Nations General Assembly meeting in 2018, when she was just three months old – making history in the process. She is the first elected leader to be born in office since Benazir Bhutto did the same in 1990, and only the second to do so.

Ardern’s style, too, is a marked change not only from the machismo of autocratic leaders like Trump and Bolsonaro, but the often aggressive nature of politics, as Richard Shaw, a professor of politics at Massey University in New Zealand, told NBC Thursday.

“I think what they offer to the world is actually a model for doing democratic politics that doesn’t depend on other people,” Shaw said. “He never used the term ‘enemy’ to describe anyone.”

While it may not be the driving force behind it, Shaw said, that leadership style also remains “the political right, and misogynists in particular, and anti-vaxxers and marginalized people in our political community” in Ardern.

It is impossible to know what Ardern’s legacy will be, but her power as a symbol of not only a successful leader – who is also a woman and a mother – may have the same effect as the election of former President Barack Obama as America’s first Black president. Both set new standards for progress, even if their domestic policies were incompatible with progressive ideals. But more than just the fact that she is a woman, a mother, and a world leader, she provides an interesting model of how leaders can act and make decisions, even when difficult, with clarity and compassion.