Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, has announced that she will not run in this year’s general elections and will step down from office the following month.
Ardern announced on Thursday January 19 that her final day in government would be February 7.
“I am not leaving because it was hard. Had that been the case I probably would have departed two months into the job,” she said.
“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,” she added.
“I know what this job takes and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple.”
On October 14, she added, New Zealand would hold its subsequent general election.
As her Labour Party appeared to be in for a challenging election season this year, Ardern made the decision to resign.
Recent polls have shown that Labour is trailing its conservative competitors, despite the fact that it won reelection two years ago in a landslide of historic proportions.
Ben Thomas, a political commentator, said that Ardern’s statement came as a great surprise as polls still showed that she was the country’s preferred prime minister, despite the fact that her party’s support had dropped significantly from its sky-high levels during the 2020 election.
There wasn’t a clear replacement, according to Thomas.
Author-Roberta Appiah
