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It almost seemed as if Jacinda Ardern could hardly believe the result. On the verge of tears, the Prime Minister of New Zealand addressed her supporters on Saturday night, visibly shaken by the enormous support she and her Labor Party had received at the polls. “The result tonight gives Labor a very strong and clear mandate,” he said.
The block in the leg is gone
A mandate for the significant expansion of his already more progressive politics. The previous lockdown is gone: the NZ First party, which had ruled the country in a coalition with Labor and Greens since 2017, failed due to the five percent hurdle.
In recent years, commentators had blamed the social-conservative nationalist party under its leader Winston Peters for the fact that Ardern failed to deliver on important promises: a significant reduction in child poverty, the construction of thousands of social housing, and action decisive against them. Global warming.
Politician with charisma
Labor is now taking 64 of the 120 seats in the unicameral parliament. This strongest election result in 50 years will allow Labor to implement politically whatever Ardern wants. Labor is free to rule without a coalition partner. However, Ardern announced that he wanted to talk to the Greens about a coalition.
Polls had long indicated a victory for Labor and Ardern. Even her harshest critics praise the communicative talent of the former takeaway vendor and political science student, her approach to street people, her “normalcy.”
Jacinda Ardern isn’t just about charisma. He had made a name for himself, especially in times of crisis. New Zealand is virtually covid free today. Experts attribute this to the fact that the 40-year-old prime minister managed to convince people of the need for an early and tough shutdown.
His words of reconciliation after the March 2019 attack in Christchurch, in which a right-wing extremist shot and killed 51 Muslims, are today an excellent example of a policy of compassion.
Great challenges await Ardern
Ardern will need all his talents in the coming months to bring the people of New Zealand together. The crown crisis has also plunged New Zealand into a recession. The decisive economic factor is tourism practically paralyzed as a consequence of the closure of national borders. Unemployment, combined with persistent bitter poverty in parts of the population and the extreme lack of affordable housing, these factors threaten the economic existence and quality of life of millions of people.
Observers hope that Ardern will not only push programs to improve the social situation. The fight against global warming is also an important focus of the Prime Minister.
Urs Wälterlin
SRF employee in Australia
