Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, is resigning after five tumultuous years in which she rose to global prominence as a progressive leader but was worn down by domestic challenges.
Here are five defining moments in the leadership of 42-year-old Jacinda Ardern, who announced on Thursday, “I no longer have enough in the tank.”
In September 2018, Ardern was seen kissing and bouncing her three-month-old daughter Neve within the hall of the United Nations General Assembly, marking the first time in the organization’s history that a baby had made such an appearance.
She was just the second prime minister to give birth in office, after Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan in 1990.
“I wish to normalize the situation,” Ardern told CNN.
“Being more open could pave the way for other women.”
Ardern received significant acclaim for her response to the Christchurch attacks in March 2019, in which a white supremacist gunman targeted two mosques during Friday prayers, killing 51 and gravely wounding 40 more.
It reverberated globally when she donned a headscarf and consoled the relatives of the victims following the shooting. She later described it as an impromptu display of respect for the Muslim community.
She also received praise for promptly implementing gun legislation improvements and pressuring social media corporations to combat online hate speech.
Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Arcinda (FILES) In this file photo taken on March 22, 2019, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gestures as she leaves Hagley Park in Christchurch following congregational Friday prayers and two minutes of silence for victims of the twin mosque shooting. The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced her resignation on January 19, 2023.
Nine months later, when a volcanic eruption on White Island, commonly known as Whakaari, resulted in the deaths of 21 people and the horrendous burns of scores more, Ardern was once again called upon to console a nation in shock.
In October 2020, Ardern secured a second term with a large legislative majority, riding a wave of “Jacindamania” popularity bolstered by her management of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Obama is the decade’s best political orator, while Ardern will lead in 2020.
Ardern, who formed a coalition government in 2017, referred to her second victory as “the Covid election.”
She campaigned on the success of her government in eradicating community transmission of the coronavirus, which at the time had claimed 25 deaths out of a population of five million.
New Zealand’s borders were not fully restored until August of last year. The number of deaths attributable to Covid has risen to 2,437.
A small but outspoken portion of New Zealand’s populace turned against Ardern’s handling of the pandemic two years after she won her second term.
Beginning in February of last year, hundreds of activists seized the Wellington lawn in front of the famous Beehive parliament building for four weeks.
Ardern refused to meet with the protestors, many of whom advocated anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, and accused them of employing “harassment and intimidation” to make their point.
The demonstrations concluded in a frenzy of violence, with some participants breaking up pavers and throwing them at police attempting to disperse the camp.
In the end, more than 100 people were arrested, and Ardern described the situation as “extremely difficult” and “challenging.”
Ardern’s popularity declined as she confronted dwindling public confidence, a failing economy, and a rising conservative opposition.
Recent surveys place the coalition of the center-right in the lead, with elections scheduled on October 14.
In recent months, Ardern shown a rare lack of composure when she was caught on microphone referring to an opposition lawmaker as a “arrogant prick.”
»Five crucial milestones in Jacinda Ardern’s tenure as New Zealand’s premier«