Jacinda Ardern: A Face of Resilience throughout a Crisis-Ridden Tenure

WELLINGTON, KOMPAS.com – New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern experienced a monumental series of crises in the span of her three-year tenure.

A fresh-faced Ardern entered New Zealand politics promising “relentless positivity” unaware of the series of catastrophes that would test her mettle.

The New Zealand Prime Minister seemingly foreshadowed the need for positivity as she dealt from one crisis to another.

In a hectic first term, Jacinda Ardern dealt with New Zealand’s worst terror attack when a white supremacist carried out a bloody attack at the Christchurch Mosque.

Read also: White Supremacist Behind Christchurch Mosque Attacks Given Life Imprisonment without Parole

She also faced a deadly volcanic eruption, the country’s deepest recession in over 30 years, and the shared global threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

Within the first few years in office, Jacinda Ardern also became a mom and became the international standard-bearer for progressive politics in an era of right-wing populist strongmen.

She had been in office barely 18 months when a white supremacist gunman opened fire in two Christchurch mosques during Friday prayers, killing 51 and injuring another 40 on March 15 last year.

Read also: Families Confront Brenton Tarrant, Christchurch Mosque Gunman

Ardern's deft and compassionate response to the gunman's rampage of hate defined her image around the world.

When she donned a headscarf and comforted victims' families after the shooting, it resonated globally. She would later describe it as a spontaneous gesture of respect to the Muslim community.

But she also won plaudits for decisive policy action, including swiftly enacted gun law reforms and a push to force social media giants to address online hate speech.

The New Zealand public will on October 17 have a chance to render their own view of the 40-year-old's performance, as she bids for another term in a general election.

Ardern's campaign pitch has focused heavily on her government's success in containing the coronavirus, with New Zealand recording only 25 deaths in a population of five million people.

She argues that only her center-left Labour Party can be trusted to keep New Zealanders safe with a combination of strict border controls and widespread Covid-19 testing.

"This has been a really tough time for New Zealand — we've had a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, and a global pandemic," she said.

"But in these tough times we've seen the best of us. We've been able to clear high hurdles and face huge challenges because of who we are, and because we had a plan."

Indications so far point to Jacinda Ardern winning a second term as New Zealand's Prime Minister which she has dubbed the "Covid election".

Labour is sitting at around 46 percent in opinion polls, 15 points ahead of the main opposition National Party.

Her personal rating as preferred prime minister is 55 percent, 32 points ahead of National's Judith Collins, although well off the record 62 percent she recorded in July.

'Jacinda-mania'

Ardern grew up in the North Island hinterland, where her father was a police officer. She credits the poverty she saw there with shaping her beliefs.

The New Zealand Prime Minister was raised as a Mormon but Ardern left the faith in her 20s due to its stance against homosexuality.

Read also: Sexual, Gender Minorities Four Times as Likely to be Victims of Violent Crimes

After completing a communications degree, Ardern began her political career in former prime minister Helen Clark's office before heading to Britain to work as a policy adviser in Tony Blair's government.

She was elected to parliament in 2008 and in March 2017 became Labour's deputy leader, saying at the time that she was not ambitious and saw herself as a backroom staffer.

Ardern transformed from self-described "policy nerd" to prime minister on a wave of "Jacinda-mania" after being thrust into the Labour leadership just seven weeks before the 2017 election.

Read also: Jacinda Ardern a Clear Favorite in Upcoming New Zealand General Election

She made headlines again a year later when she became only the second prime minister in the world to give birth while in office — after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto in 1990.

After Christchurch she again offered comfort to the nation, when the White Island (also known as Whakaari) volcano erupted last December, killing 21 people and leaving dozens more with horrific burns.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has constantly urged New Zealanders during the coronavirus crisis to "be kind", appealing for a unified approach from what she terms a "team of five million".

Life within New Zealand has largely returned to normal after a strict lockdown earlier this year, barring a brief outbreak in Auckland that has now been contained.

(Writer: Neil Sands)

Source: http://u.afp.com/3r78