At the New Zealand Labor Party’s election meeting on Thursday, party leader and prime minister Jacinda Ardern said she will step down as prime minister when her term ends on February 7. It reports The Guardian.
Required responsibility to know
At a press conference, she says that as Prime Minister, it requires responsibility “to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not”.
– I know what this job requires. And I know I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple, she says.
Ardern said that during the summer break she reflected on whether she had the energy to continue as the country’s top political leader, but concluded that she did not.
Youngest head of government
Jacinda Ardern became the world’s youngest female head of government when she was elected Prime Minister in 2017 at the age of 37. She has led New Zealand through the coronavirus pandemic and major disasters, including the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch and the White Island volcanic eruption.