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This has never happened in New Zealand since 1996 – the Labor Party won an absolute majority in parliamentary elections and may rule only in the future. The National Party suffered a severe defeat.
By Holger Senzel, ARD Studio Singapore
To frantic applause, Jacinda Ardern takes the stage at Auckland City Hall Labor Headquarters. She is silent for a moment, as if she herself can’t understand it. Ardern smiles happily and then begins his acceptance speech, in Maori, the language of the natives of New Zealand. “That night New Zealand showed the Labor Party its biggest support in 50 years. And I have only one word for it: thank you.”
48.9 percent of the vote: Ardern’s Social Democratic Labor Party won 64 of 120 seats in the Wellington parliament. The 40-year-old can rule New Zealand only in the future.
Ardern’s re-election was far from certain
With his historic electoral victory, Ardern inflicted a historic setback on the National Party. The Conservatives fell to just 27 percent. Reconciliation: that is, therefore, Ardern’s motto. She wants to be the Prime Minister of all New Zealanders. “We live in an increasingly polarized world,” Adern explains. “A world where more and more people lose the ability to see the position of others. I hope this election has shown that we are not like that here in New Zealand and that we can listen, discuss, as a nation. We are closed small to lose sight of the perspective of our fellow citizens. “
This triumph is above all Ardern’s personal success. Not long ago she was criticized for her broken promises. She had advertised 100,000 houses for the socially disadvantaged, nothing has happened. Child poverty also remained a major problem in New Zealand. His popularity in his own country was not as high as internationally, and reelection was anything but certain.
The world’s strictest blockade in New Zealand
But as a crisis manager in the corona pandemic, he gained massive popularity. Because the island nation overcame the Covid 19 crisis relatively lightly with just 25 deaths, many New Zealanders have the feeling that their head of government saved them. Jacinderella, as some media call her, ordered the country to have the strictest blockade in the world with house arrest and narrow borders. And he was celebrated for it.
The next few years will not be easy, as the last have been, the Prime Minister says today. “But we have seen that a light shines even in the darkest hours. This light has always been the destiny of our nation, our mutual support. This light has always been stronger than the most overwhelming darkness. I cannot imagine any people that Would you rather work, and who would you rather be Prime Minister. “
The Ardern government faces great challenges. Due to the closure, the country entered a serious economic crisis, the borders are still closed and the important tourism industry has fallen. But Ardern is sure: “The New Zealand team will too.”
