- Jacinda Ardern’s resignation triggered a drive for New Zealand to elect its first Maori prime minister.
- The new prime minister will be chosen by Labour lawmakers on Sunday.
- To win, a candidate must receive two-thirds of the vote.
Jacinda Ardern’s unexpected departure triggered a drive for New Zealand to elect its first Maori prime minister on Friday as a small group of contenders for the position emerged.
Less than three years after clinching a second term in a landslide election victory, Ardern, a global icon for progressive politics, shocked New Zealand on Thursday by abruptly announcing her resignation.
The 42-year-old said she no longer had “enough in the tank” after leading the nation through natural disasters, the Covid outbreak, and its worst-ever terror incident.
Without a clear substitute, Ardern resigned, and the Labour Party, which she led, is now rushing to find someone.
The new prime minister will be chosen by Labour lawmakers on Sunday; to win, a candidate must receive two-thirds of the vote.
If that doesn’t happen, it will turn into a protracted election involving party activists and linked unions.
The early favorite is 44-year-old Chris Hipkins after Ardern’s deputy Grant Robertson abruptly withdrew from the race.
One of Labour’s senior Maori MPs, Kiri Allan, the minister of justice, and Michael Wood, the minister of immigration, are additional candidates.
None of the three have yet declared that they will challenge the election.
Maori leader in office?
It has been suggested that Allan, a former commercial lawyer who was elected to parliament in 2017, could be the country’s first Maori leader.
After learning that she had stage 3 cervical cancer in April 2021, she was obliged to leave the House of Representatives; nevertheless, she quickly got back to work.
The 15-person Maori caucus inside Labour is anticipated to play an important role in choosing the new leader.
The most recent census in New Zealand revealed that 17% of its five million residents identify as Maori.
Influential Labour minister Kelvin Davis stated, “Obviously, we’d love for their to be a Maori prime minister one day.
Former Labour Maori caucus co-chair Willie Jackson emphasized the importance of participating in those conversations.
We want to participate because we’re talking about our country’s prime minister, he remarked.
The Maori Party, also known as Te Pati Maori, runs for office in the specifically designated Maori electorates. It said that a Maori-born prime minister was needed.
Co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi said in a statement that “anything less will be taking Aotearoa (New Zealand) backwards from Jacinda Ardern.”
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