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Jacinda resigns as PM of New Zealand

WELLINGTON, Aug. 14, 2020 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during a press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, Aug. 14, 2020. New Zealand's largest city Auckland will remain in COVID-19 Alert Level 3 for 12 more days, with the rest of the country staying in Alert Level 2, as there are currently 36 active cases, 17 of which are linked to the recent community transmission in Auckland. (Xinhua/Guo Lei/IANS)

She will step down as Labour Party leader no later than February 7, following which there will be a vote in the coming days to determine her replacement…reports Asian Lite News

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday announced that she will step down next month after being in power for six years, saying she no longer has “enough in the tank” to lead.

“I had hoped that I would find what I needed to carry on over that period but, unfortunately, I haven’t, and I would be doing a disservice to New Zealand to continue,” the BBC quoted the Prime Minister as saying to reporters.

Ardern, who became the youngest female head of government in the world when she was elected Prime Minister in 2017 at the age of 37, said that the six “challenging” years in the job had taken a toll.

“It’s one thing to lead your country through peace time, it’s another to lead them through crisis,” she said.

“These events… have been taxing because of the weight, the sheer weight and continual nature of them. There’s never really been a moment where it’s ever felt like we were just governing.”

She will step down as Labour Party leader no later than February 7, following which there will be a vote in the coming days to determine her replacement.

New Zealand will hold a general election on October 14.

Ardern steered New Zealand through the Covid-19 pandemic and its ensuing recession, the Christchurch mosque shootings, and the White Island volcanic eruption, reports the BBC.

In 2020, she led her Labour Party to a landslide victory, but her domestic popularity has declined to new lows in recent months, according to opinion polls.

In her address to the media, Ardern said she was not resigning because she believed Labour could not win the election, but because she thought it would.

“We need a fresh set of shoulders for that challenge,” she said.

The 42-year-old also listed her government’s achievements on climate change, social housing and reducing child poverty as ones she was particularly proud of.

But she said she hoped New Zealanders would remember her “as someone who always tried to be kind”.

“I hope I leave New Zealanders with a belief that you can be kind, but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focused. And that you can be your own kind of leader — one who knows when it’s time to go,” she said.

Meanwhile, Deputy leader Grant Robertson said he would not contest the leadership vote, which will occur on Sunday.

If one candidate cannot garner the support of two-thirds of the party room, the vote will go to Labour’s lay membership.

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PEACE IN ASIA-PACIFIC: Jacinda Offers Help

PEACE IN ASIA-PACIFIC: Jacinda Offers Help

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has reaffirmed her confidence in multilateral cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region…reports Asian Lite News

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has reaffirmed her confidence in multilateral cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and called for consistent joint efforts to tackle the most important regional challenges.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Addressing the 28th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting, Ardern, who chairs APEC in 2021, underscored the persistent challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic and the benefits of collaborative response by all member economies, reports Xinhua news agency.

Each economy is facing the same fundamental problems in terms of getting as many people vaccinated as fast as possible, keeping businesses afloat and people in jobs, resuming safe cross-border travelling, accelerating economic recovery, and securing an equitable response, she said.

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Looking ahead, Ardern stressed the importance of protection offered by mass vaccination.

JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER, NEW ZEALAND: “Today is also a chance to look to the future, as we seek to emerge from this crisis better than before. A future where our businesses flourish and our economies offer opportunities for all, where we embrace a green transformation, combat climate change and harness digital technologies. A future where, once protected by vaccination, we are able to deepen our connections for all our benefit.”

Calling for more solidarity and renewed belief in the institution of the regional bloc, Ardern said: “I hope we can write a new chapter in APEC’s history, and leave the organization stronger and ready to assist us all in tackling our most important challenges.”

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Jacinda urges for united fight against pandemic

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

She outlined several areas where political and business leaders could work together to achieve an economic recovery to weather future economic shocks…reports Asian Lite News.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday called on political and business leaders to work together to build a strong, equitable and sustainable recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

She made the remarks when delivering the keynote address to a global business audience at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, reports Xinhua news agency.

Acknowledging the scale of the pandemic’s impacts, Ardern said “there is now little doubt that staying on top of the virus provides options when it comes to responding to the economic challenges before us”.

“As we prepare for the post-pandemic era, we need to continue to strengthen the partnership between government and business. Together, we need to set the stage for an equitable, inclusive and sustainable recovery that invests in our people and our planet through innovative ideas and renewed resolve,” she said.

She outlined several areas where political and business leaders could work together to achieve an economic recovery to weather future economic shocks.

“We must unlock efficiency and productivity gains that digital innovation offers,” she said, adding that Covid-19 has accelerated the progress of digital transformation by years.

Meanwhile, workplaces and businesses must be inclusive of everyone across the communities, particularly women and indigenous peoples, who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic’s effects but are an engaged and productive labour force that have much to contribute, she said.

In New Zealand alone, the Maori economy is now worth NZ$70 billion ($49 billion), the Prime Minister noted.

Ardern also pointed out environmental sustainability as an area for increased political and business cooperation.

“I’m proud of the progress APEC has made this year, including in beginning to turn the tide on the adoption of fossil fuel subsidies which have created devastating environmental degradation by masking the true cost of fossil fuels and inhibiting the transition to adoption of renewable alternatives,” the Prime Minister said.

She acknowledged that addressing such systemic issues would demand increased political and business cooperation.

“We have been dealt an opportunity to strike an economic reset on a scale we haven’t seen since World War II. Implementing this level of change during such challenging times will require real courage from all of us, political leaders and business leaders alike,” she said.

The themes of this year’s APEC CEO Summit include the State of the World with and post-Covid: economic recovery, trade and protectionism; and the Digital Disruption Opportunity: digital transformation, technology and innovation, and the importance of digital equity.

Other themes are the Primacy of Trust: ESG (environmental, social, governance) – the next focus for business, and business as a force for good; the Future of Energy: clean technology, renewable energy, and energy transition; and the Sustainability Imperative: sustainable growth, climate change, food sustainability and provenance.

After the APEC CEO Summit, the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting will kick off on Friday via virtual conference, chaired by Ardern, with post-pandemic recovery, implementation action of 2040 vision high on the agenda.

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