New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has announced that she would step down next month and would not seek re-election, adding that a national election would be held in October. She made the announcement in a televised statement saying she “no longer had enough in the tank” and that for her "it's time."
“I’m leaving, because with such a 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’s that simple,” she said in her statement, as reported by the media.
“I am human, politicians are human. We give all that we can for as long as we can. And then it’s time. And for me, it’s time,” she added.
Ardern became the world's youngest head of government when she became the New Zealand Prime Minister in 2017 at the age of 37. She was also lauded for her management of the Covid pandemic in her country. She was also praised for her handling of the attack on two mosques in Christchurch, and the White Island volcanic eruption.
“This has been the most fulfilling five and a half years of my life. But it’s also had its challenges – amongst an agenda focused on housing, child poverty and climate change, we encountered a … domestic terror event, a major natural disaster, a global pandemic, and an economic crisis,” she added in her statement.
When asked how she would like people to remember her leadership, the Guardian quoted her as saying: “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,” Ardern said.