The country has been infected with the virus twice. Voters are likely to reward the “rescued woman” with a landslide victory.

With some of the strictest measures in the world, New Zealand has managed to stall the infection better than most. A charismatic prime minister gets much of the credit.

Eight months after the pandemic, Europe is racing toward a new wave of infections. Door bans and new locks are introduced at record speed.

But in a small island kingdom in the Southwest Pacific, everyday life is strikingly similar to normal. The pubs are full. The nozzles are almost invisible. Last week a rugby match was played in front of 30,000 spectators. And on October 10, 5,000 people gathered for a music festival in the nation’s second-largest city, Time magazine writes.

For the second time, New Zealand has achieved something that most other countries in the world can only dream of: getting back to everyday life. For now.

– “Woman rescued from New Zealand”

In addition, there is an electoral campaign. In recent weeks, candidates have met with voters with selfies and handshakes.

On Saturday, October 17, the Kiwis will go to the polls.

With strong leadership in most polls, it will take a lot for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Labor Party to be deprived of power.

It wasn’t like that at the beginning of the year. At the time, many voters felt that the left-wing party was having trouble keeping its previous electoral promises. Then came the pandemic.

Labor support soared. Voter evaluation of Ardern’s personal endeavors did the same. In April, nearly 65 percent, a record, thought the Prime Minister did a good job. This summer, a colleague from the party called her “the rescued woman of New Zealand.”

“Many voters feel that Ardern has literally saved them,” political commentator Ben Thomas told The Economist.

To date, the country has registered 25 deaths and just over 1,880 cases of infection.

Absolute answer

“Go hard and go early.” That was Arden’s message.

From the beginning of the pandemic, the tactic of the authorities was to eliminate the virus before it took hold. The first travel restrictions were already in effect on February 3. They were introduced almost a month before the country registered its first case of infection.

When Norway closed on March 12, we had 621 infected.

In mid-March, New Zealand did the same. At that time, the number of infected was 102. People were asked to stay at home, large gatherings were banned and schools were closed. Attention immediately turned to expanded testing capacity and intense infection tracking, Business Insider writes.

In April, New Zealand had its highest number of infections in one day: 89. But then it changed.

In June, the country was declared virus-free. The restrictions were largely lifted.

It lasted a little over 100 days. Then a new eruption was reported in the country’s largest city, Auckland, which has 1.6 million residents.

The outbreak counted only dozens of cases. But again, the authorities responded immediately and with determination. The city was closed.

In early October, Ardern announced for the second time that New Zealand had gotten rid of the virus. Most of the restrictions were lifted again.

Historic economic recession

However, the strict measures have cost New Zealand dearly. In the second quarter of the year, the country’s GDP fell by 12.2 percent. It had never happened before in the history of the country.

Several experts have pointed out that the isolated location of the island kingdom has made infection control easier. The country has continued to close its borders to foreigners. Furthermore, it has a relatively small population, around five million, roughly the same number as Norway.

However, several political observers are impressed with Ardern’s leadership during the crisis. He has gotten the Kiwis into the team with the help of clear and supportive rhetoric, says Richard Shaw, a professor of politics at Massey University in New Zealand.

“Ardern has demonstrated his dominance in political communication,” Shaw said.

Shooting stars in the political arena

Not surprisingly, much of this year’s election campaign revolved around the 40-year-old prime minister.

The contrast is great when he came to power in a very surprising way three years ago. Just weeks before the 2017 elections, the then relatively unknown politician took over as party leader. Against all odds, he succeeded in driving Labor to government offices in a wave of voters the media dubbed “Jacindamania.”

With that, she became the youngest prime minister in the world.

Better in crisis

Since then, he has earned a huge star. Ardern is something as rare as a world-renowned New Zealand politician. Among other things, she has appeared on the covers of Vogue and Time magazines. In international liberal circles, he has become a progressive icon.

Internationally, she became well known for the way she led the country through the 2019 Christchurch massacre that killed 51 people. In the aftermath of the tragedy, he implemented stricter gun legislation in record time.

And it is his crisis management that, above all, has earned him national recognition, political commentators believe.

– Stand out in times of crisis. His enormous aptitude for sympathy is very genuine. And he’s probably able to project these sentiments more effectively than anyone else in the international community, Ben Thomas tells CNN.

But Ardern still faces criticism. Several believe it has failed to deliver on several of its most important electoral promises, including solving the housing shortage and reducing child poverty in the country.

It can be a historical result

For the past three years, the Labor Party has ruled with the right-wing populist New Zealand First. In addition, the Green Party has been part of the coalition.

If all goes well, some polls have suggested that Labor can get a clear majority with nearly half the vote.

This has never happened with the current electoral system, which was introduced in 1996. New Zealand’s proportional electoral system facilitates coalition governments.

Recent polls suggest that Labor is likely to form a left-wing Green Party government. In that case, it will be the country’s first pure left-wing government in more than 20 years.