New Zealand: Triumphantly re-elected, Jacinda Ardern pledges to implement reforms
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pledged Sunday, the day after her resounding election victory , to make the reforms that a series of crises prevented her from carrying out during her first term. The Head of Government's Labor Party won 49.1% of the vote on Saturday, which will allow her to have an absolute majority in Parliament and to govern without a coalition.
After being criticized for not having kept her promises during her first term, particularly in terms of environmental and social protection, Jacinda Ardern said she was now in a position to carry out reforms.
"There are certain areas in which we want to progress"
The charismatic Prime Minister said that her resounding victory, the most important for the Labor Party since 1946, means that more voters support her party and her reform agenda.
“I think they approve of the work we have done and the plan we have to move forward, and there are some areas where we want to move forward,” said Jacinda Ardern.
A succession of major crises
The 40-year-old, who became a symbol of center-left progressivism after her election in 2017, acknowledged that the need to appease the small member parties of her coalition had "slowed down" her reform policy during her first term.
During it, the Labor leader also had to deal with the archipelago's worst terrorist attack , a deadly volcanic eruption, the most severe recession in over thirty years, and of course, the historic challenge of the pandemic. .
"The government has the mandate to implement all of its commitments"
On Saturday night, during her victory speech, she expressed her willingness to tackle issues such as climate change , poverty and inequality.
Her main opponent, National Party leader Judith Collins, admitted voters gave Jacinda Ardern carte blanche to implement these changes. For the one whose party won 26.8% of the vote, it also means that the Prime Minister can no longer claim that her political failures are due to members of her coalition.
" The government has the mandate to implement all of its commitments, so they can no longer blame someone for not having done so," Judith Collins told reporters.
The election campaign focused on the government's success in tackling the pandemic, with Jacinda Ardern dubbing the poll the “Covid elections” .
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