Updated: October 17, 2020 9:08:38 pm
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks at the Labor Party election night event as she claims victory in the general election, in Auckland, New Zealand, on October 17, 2020. Image AAP / David Rowland
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern scored the biggest electoral victory for her center-left Labor Party in half a century on Saturday, when voters rewarded her for a decisive response to COVID-19.
The term means the 40-year-old Ardern could form the first single-party government in decades and will face the challenge of delivering on the progressive transformation he promised but failed to achieve in his first term, where Labor shared power with a nationalist party. .
“This is a historic change,” said political commentator Bryce Edwards of Victoria University in Wellington, describing the vote as one of the biggest changes in New Zealand’s electoral history in 80 years.
Labor was on track to win 64 of the 120 seats in the country’s unicameral parliament, the highest of any party since New Zealand adopted a proportional voting system in 1996.
Ardern, 40, promised his supporters that he would build an economy that works for everyone, create jobs, empower people, protect the environment and address climate challenges and social inequalities.
“We live in an increasingly polarized world,” he said. “A place where more and more people have lost the ability to see the point of view of others. I hope that with this election New Zealand has shown that this is not who we are.
Opposition National Party leader Judith Collins said she congratulated the prime minister on an “outstanding result.”
Labor won 49.0% of the votes, well ahead of Nacional with 27%, the Electoral Commission said, with 95% of the votes counted.
Ardern said he would wait until the final result to say whether his government would include smaller groups like the Green Party, a former coalition partner that secured a larger 8% mandate.
SWING VOTERS
National leaders were decimated in their strongholds by young Labor candidates who appealed to voters with progressive and democratic messages and highlighted the party’s success in fighting the coronavirus.
“The last seven months of this government, all the problems related to its past promises have been put aside due to COVID-19. It’s that simple, ”said Deputy National Leader Gerry Brownlee, who has long lost his job.
Despite the election leaning to the left, Ardern is likely to “continue to chart a centrist course, largely with the aim of implementing incremental change that he hopes will last longer than a future change in government” because he must his victory to center-right voters supported National, said Geoffrey Miller, an analyst with the political website Democracy Project.
‘BE STRONG, BE KIND’
The prime minister received worldwide acclaim for her handling of a mass shooting last year by a white supremacist in Christchurch, with her inclusive mantra “be strong, be kind” and her swift action to ban guns.
She honed that reputation this year with a “push yourself, go early” approach to the novel coronavirus, which has eliminated the local spread of COVID-19 across the nation.
The election was delayed a month after new COVID-19 infections in Auckland that led to a second shutdown in the country’s largest city.
While internationally known for promoting progressive causes such as women’s rights and social justice, at home Ardern faced criticism because her government failed to deliver on its promise to be transformative.
Life has returned to normal in New Zealand, but its borders are still closed, its tourism sector is bleeding, and economists predict a lasting recession after the harsh blockades.
The economy contracted at an annual rate of 12.2% in the second quarter, its steepest decline since the Great Depression. Debt is projected to rise to 56% of gross domestic product from less than 20% before the pandemic.
New Zealanders also voted in referenda on Saturday to legalize euthanasia and recreational marijuana, with the results to be announced on October 30. This latest vote could make New Zealand the third country in the world to allow the use and sale of cannabis by adults across the country. after Uruguay and Canada.
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