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Jacinda Ardern will rule New Zealand for a second term, after the Labor Party achieved a landslide victory in the general election, drawing so many votes that it could become the first party in decades to rule alone.
With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the Labor Party had secured 49 percent, with the opposition National party with 27 percent. The Labor Party was expected to win 64 of the 120 seats in parliament and the National 35. It is the best result for the Labor Party in 50 years.
Opposition leader Judith Collins congratulated Ms Ardern on the “excellent result” on Saturday night.
Speaking to supporters at Auckland City Hall minutes later, Ms Ardern thanked the nation for the strong mandate. He said the elections “do not have to be divisive” and promised to govern with positivity.
“I can’t imagine a town where I would feel more privileged to work on behalf of, work alongside him and be prime minister,” he said to a cheer.
“The result tonight gives Labor a very strong and very clear mandate.”
It is an extraordinary night for Labor, who may not have to rely on a minor party to form a government.
The vote had turned into a referendum on Ms Ardern’s country leadership since her sudden rise to power three years ago. The dismal results for her opponents suggested that the New Zealanders had rewarded her for her skillful handling of the pandemic, which has so far spared the country from the worst of Covid-19, even though it is now in recession.
Labor’s strong lead started early in the evening, but as the hours passed, the dominant lead continued.
For months, opinion polls had pointed to a Labor victory, with the latest poll showing Labor 15 points ahead of the opposition National Party, which has been beset by infighting and disunity.
A record number of voters, more than 1.7 million, cast their votes in advance, representing almost half of the roughly 3.5 million New Zealanders on the electoral rolls.
Collins, the party’s third leader this year, who took office just three months ago, often preferred to criticize Ardern’s handling of the pandemic or economic recovery plans, rather than promoting her own policies.
Crisis after crisis
Since coming to power in 2017, Ardern initially got a mixed response in polls. But she has since become New Zealand’s most popular prime minister in modern times, as she led the country through crisis after crisis, including Covid-19.
Although New Zealand is now in its worst recession in decades, Ms Ardern’s decision to close the borders and enforce a nationwide blockade resulted in fewer than 2,000 people becoming infected with the disease and 25 deaths.
Ms Ardern, who has become world famous as a progressive leader, emphasized kindness and cooperation during her first term and told voters that she needed a second term to fulfill her promises of transformative change.
During his first term, he banned future oil and gas exploration, increased paid parental leave, raised the minimum wage and increased benefits for the most disadvantaged New Zealanders.
But it failed to deliver on some of its key promises. She abandoned the KiwiBuild affordable housing scheme (fewer than 500 houses were built of the original 100,000 pledged), eliminated a proposed capital gains tax, and made minimal progress on child poverty.
National leader Judith Collins grants the 2020 New Zealand general election. Photo: Greg Bowker / Getty Images.
She defended her progressive record on Friday, telling an interviewer that change would not happen overnight.
“I’m not done yet … I’m a bit flattered by the idea that it would solve a decades-long problem in three years, but I can’t,” she told Radio New Zealand of her history of child poverty.
Recession
A second term brings with it a number of challenges for the prime minister, with the country facing a recession, poverty and rising profit numbers and increasingly common weather-related weather adventures.
Ms Ardern’s image and popularity have been at the forefront of Labor’s re-election bid, with an ad on Labor social media saying that voting for the party would allow New Zealand to “keep Jacinda” as one of the top 10 reasons to vote for them. Analysts said it was a risky strategy for the party in the long term.
“It is not clear what they have done and what they still plan to do,” said Jennifer Lees-Marshment, a professor of politics at the University of Auckland.
“She is not trying to win a mandate, she is not trying to win over anybody, so while this seems safe for Labor, it is actually a very dangerous strategy.”
Susan St John is a researcher with the Child Poverty Action Group and said that the Ardern government had failed to control excessive wealth, to the detriment of the poorest in the country.
“There have been small improvements in low income, but no transformative change,” said Ms. St John. “The government’s promises to prioritize child poverty led to very modest reduction targets that seem less achievable in today’s environments amid the Covid-19 recession.”
Fatigue
Election fatigue manifested itself throughout the long weeks of the campaign, and voters and politicians alike seemed to have no appetite for the dog-eating policy amid a global pandemic.
But it was Labor’s promise to bring “stability” to voters, usually a national party slogan, that proved decisive, and many New Zealanders felt too insecure to reorganize the government after such a difficult year.
Ms Ardern has vowed to halve child poverty by 2030, address the climate crisis and build more state housing. He has also vowed to resurrect the economy after a strict seven-week national lockdown.
While National’s Mrs. Collins, a veteran politician, was a known number, she was also divisive: loved and hated in equal measure. His optimistic energy seemed to wane in the final week of the campaign, as his defeat seemed increasingly certain, and now he will likely face a fight for the leadership of his party.
Ms. Collins has criticized Ms. Ardern for using “silly” language and failing to deliver on her promises of transformative change. She said the prime minister offered “love and hugs” when what the country really needed was an experienced politician and businessman to get them out of the financial crisis created by Covid-19.
But his attacks on Ms. Ardern did not seem to resonate with voters.
Political analysts have described the 2020 general election as “strange”, “strange” and “strange”; and said it lacked the usual drama and scandal, as well as much coherence.
Ardern’s popularity at home and abroad has made her the country’s first “famous PM” and, coupled with her success on Covid-19, many analysts deemed her impossible to beat, saying her appeal as a leader goes further. beyond politics.
In addition to electing a new government, the ballots also asked New Zealanders to decide whether to legalize marijuana and euthanasia. The results of the referendum questions will not be made public until October 30. Polls have suggested that euthanasia will likely become legal, but support for cannabis legalization has cooled.
– Guardian
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