Not ‘enough in the tank’: New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern quits over burnout
Jacinda Ardern #JacindaArdern
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern announces she will resign, plans to step down in February
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New Zealand’s leader Jacinda Ardern is quitting her job as prime minister because of professional burnout, the 42-year-old said Thursday.
Ardern, who’s been in the role since 2017, was elected at age 37, becoming, at that time, the youngest female leader of any government in the world. (Finland’s Sanna Marin is now the youngest serving prime minister in the world at 34 years old.)
“I am not leaving because it was hard,” Ardern said. “Had that been the case I probably would have departed two months into the job. I am 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.”
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“I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice,” she told reporters in Napier, fighting back tears. ”It is that simple.”
More on the resignation: New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern resigned. What that says about privilege, burnout.
“I would be doing a disservice to New Zealand to continue.”
Ardern said her years in office were “the most fulfilling” of her life. However, she noted that leading New Zealand during years of “crisis” had been hard. “There’s never really been a moment when it’s ever felt like we were just governing.”
Ardern quits: What now?
She will remain on the job until Feb. 7. Lawmakers from her center-left Labour Party will vote on a successor. If they can’t reach an agreement, the vote will be opened up to rank-and-file members of the party.
Ardern’s resignation comes ahead of an October general election in New Zealand. Polls show her party has been losing support recently.
What is Ardern’s legacy?
She was lauded globally for her country’s initial handling of the COVID-19 pandemic after New Zealand managed for months to stop the virus at its borders. But its zero-tolerance strategy was abandoned once it was challenged by new variants and vaccines became available. She faced tougher criticism at home that the strategy was too strict.
Can I go to New Zealand right now?: For the first time in more than 2 years, yes
In March 2019, Ardern faced one of the darkest days in New Zealand’s history when a white supremacist gunman stormed two mosques in Christchurch and slaughtered 51 worshippers during Friday prayers. Ardern was widely praised for her empathy with survivors and New Zealand’s wider Muslim community in the aftermath.
After the mosque shootings, Ardern moved within weeks to pass new laws banning the deadliest types of semi-automatic weapons. A subsequent buyback scheme run by police saw more than 50,000 guns, including many AR-15-style rifles, destroyed.
But Ardern and her government also faced criticism that it had been big on ideas but lacking in execution. Supporters worried it hadn’t made promised gains on increasing the housing supply and reducing child poverty, while opponents said it was not focusing enough on crime and the struggling economy. Many observers said that sexist attitudes played a role in the anger directed at Ardern.
More on prime minister’s announcement: New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern stepping down; will not contest general elections
In her private life, apart from breaking barriers for her relative youthfulness, she is only the second elected world leader to give birth while in office. The first was Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s former prime minister who was assassinated in 2007.
Who’s saying what about her?
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Not ‘enough in the tank’: New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern quits over burnout