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University of Otago professor Andrew Geddis, who specializes in electoral law, said that nothing requires Ardern to be careful when using the Beehive podium because he has the right to rule until Election Day.
“That said, if the government’s handling of COVID-19 announcements is deemed too politicized, it will undermine their effectiveness. They should remain ‘government’ announcements, not ‘Labor candidate for prime minister’ announcements,” he told Newshub.
“Of course, using the Beehive podium comes at the cost of forcing Ardern to be in Wellington instead of traveling the country campaigning. And since Ardern is Labor’s main attraction, you’ll want to make it so visible to the public in person. How is it possible.”
Professor Geddis said that Ardern benefits from the tenure as does “every acting Prime Minister.”
“Being ‘in charge’ and being able to set the agenda in that way inevitably gives an advantage. That is why we say that governments lose elections rather than Oppositions win them,” he said.
Opposition leader Judith Collins says that doesn’t worry her.
“I never worry about whether it’s fair to us or not; we just have to do our job. There is no point in complaining, we just go out and do our job,” he said Friday.
But Collins suspects there is a “certain amount of politics” in the Prime Minister’s decisions to change alert levels for COVID-19.
“We never had a level 2.5 until it was announced by the Prime Minister on Sunday, so I think people are starting to realize that it is not just a health decision, right? There is a certain amount of politics here.”
Ardern said alert-level decision-making is based on “evidence and science, not politics.”
