Jacindamania

‘Jacindamania’

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, 42, surprised the world by announcing her resignation from the helm. February 7 will be her last day in the office. “I am leaving because with this privileged role, comes responsibility, the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not… I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple.” These were their last words, Jacinda, which did not unveil the ‘real reason’ for her exit.

Ms Ardern had been re-elected in the previous general election of 2020, confirming her big popularity, following her successful handling of the pandemic. But her second term was marked by difficult domestic issues, including record levels of inflation, a housing affordability crisis, rising crime rates, and a backlash against progressive policy initiatives. These resulted in the New Zealand National Party overtaking the Labour group in poll ratings, leaving her as the most preferred politician to lead the country.

She was born into a working-class Mormon family; her father was a police officer, and her mother was a school cafeteria worker. Her to become a Prime Minister started from her high school and she joined the Labour Party at the age of 17. She picked up political experience at the highest level after graduating in Communication Studies with majors in politics and public relations. Her political views were on child poverty, homelessness, alcohol and drug dependency, and general deprivation in her country’s rural communities. She is a self-proclaimed social democrat and feminist with strong progressive principles. That made her younger age wear the throne of Prime Minister.

Rise to top

Her journey to the peak of posts starts as the youngest sitting MP in the New Zealand Parliament in 2008. She was elected as the leader of Labour in 2017 which helped the party to take the seat above New Zealand National Party in a decade. Ms Ardern’s charisma and personal popularity made her known as ‘Jasindamania’ in August 2017, At the age of 37, Ms Ardern became one of the world’s youngest prime ministers and ushered in a fresh brand of gendered leadership marked by sensitivity, empathy, and concern for minorities.

The first test for her premiership came as the pandemic struck. She acted quickly to close her country’s borders and made strict quarantine requirements, which kept New Zealand distant from Covid for many days. Her response to the deadly Christ Church shooting, which killed 51 people, by ignoring the familiar script that politicians tend to follow in such situations, was not good.

Leadership election

After nearly six years on the job, Ms Ardern seems to have concluded. The Labour Party is scheduled to hold a meeting to elect a new less "soft" leader. Her commitment to her family and the illustration of her words, “She can no longer do justice to her job,” would be the reason for her silence. Maybe, she is simply trying to do the right thing for her family, her party, and her country by resigning.