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The Prime Minister’s Labor Party Jacinda ardern He easily won the general elections this Saturday in New Zealand, with close to 50% of the votes, an “exceptional result” immediately recognized by the opposition.
With a quarter of the votes still to be counted, the center-left Labor Party in Ardern, who is running for a second term, wins 49% support and his ally, the Green Party, adds 7.6%, while the Party Judith Collins National, main opposition force, gets 27%.
Ardern, 40 years old and in power since 2017, thanked voters for the trust placed in these elections that she herself described as “COVID elections” and whose campaign focused on your success in fighting the pandemic.
“Thank you to the many people who gave us their vote, who trusted us to continue to lead New Zealand’s recovery,” he told his supporters.
Judith Collins admitted defeat in a televised speech: “To Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, whom I have phoned, congratulations, because this is, I think, an exceptional result for the Labor Party,” she said.
The projections give the Labor Party the majority in parliament, with 64 seats out of 120. For the center-right National Party, it could be its worst result in almost 20 years.
The figures far exceed the forecasts of the pre-election opinion polls and, if maintained, would represent the strongest victory for the Labor Party since 1946.
No leader has achieved an absolute majority since New Zealand adopted a proportional voting system in 1996, leading to a succession of multi-party governments.
Labor Party Chair Claire Szabó attributed the resounding victory to Ardern’s charisma, who garnered massive support for New Zealanders from the so-called “Jacinda-mania” when she took over the party in 2017, which at the time it barely reached 24% in the polls.
“This is a great night for us,” he said in statements on television. “There is no doubt that the great and strong leadership of Jacinda Ardern has been a huge factor in all of this,” he added.
Vote early
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson also congratulated Ardern on “his extraordinary triumph.”
About 3.5 million people registered to vote. New Zealand has very strict polling days laws, restricting media coverage and political propaganda while the polls are open, to prevent voters from being swayed.
About 1.7 million people (almost half of the total electorate) voted early, a much higher proportion than in previous elections.
In principle, the elections should have been held on September 19, but were postponed due to an outbreak of coronavirus in Auckland, which has since been contained.
In addition, voters also voted for two referendums: one on the legalization of cannabis use for recreational purposes and one on the legalization of euthanasia. However, the results of those two votes will not be known until October 30.
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