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New Zealand’s next parliament will be the most inclusive of all time, in terms of people of color, members of the LGBT community, and large numbers of women.
The Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, received an overwhelming mandate in the elections on Saturday (October 17).
Labor won 64 of the 120 parliamentary seats, and more than half of them are candidates.
It also has 16 indigenous Maori MPs and one of Sri Lankan origin and the first member of African descent, Ibrahim Omar.
“It is a great privilege to be the first African MP and, I believe, the second Muslim in the history of the New Zealand parliament.”
Roughly 10% of the members of the 120-seat chamber will be openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, and it is believed to be the most representative parliament of that community in the world.
The Greens won up to 10 seats in parliament and most of them are women, indigenous leaders or LGBT.
Ardern’s party has enough seats to rule directly, but is in talks with the Green Party to build a broader consensus.
Ardern herself came onto the world scene in 2017 when she became the world’s youngest head of government at the age of 37.
