Personalities to follow in 2023 | Jacinda Ardern on the defensive

During her appearance on the show of American comedian Stephen Colbert in May, Jacinda Ardern elegantly dodged a question about her appreciation of political life in the United States.

“Countries like mine tend to have a principle of not commenting on the politics of other countries,” said the Prime Minister of New Zealand, who would probably not be reluctant today to benefit locally from the enthusiasm that it arouses abroad.

The 42-year-old politician, who had at one time achieved almost “Olympian” status according to a New Zealand columnist, faces a sling that could jeopardize the Labor Party’s chances of re-election in the polls scheduled for 2023.

In a poll published shortly before Christmas, the centre-left formation it oversees received 33% of the voting intentions, while the National Party, 38%, and the ACT, another opposition party, 11% , found themselves in a theoretical position to form a victorious centre-right bloc.

More concerning to his supporters, the popularity of M^me Ardern fell to 29%, the worst result recorded since he came to power in 2017 in the small country of 5 million people.

The results are so worrying that she had to answer questions from the media about her possible resignation as leader of the Labor camp before the next election.

Much water has flowed under the bridge since this graduate in communications, who had been propelled to the head of her party shortly before the 2017 elections, appeared on the screens of the planet following a bloody 2019 shootings at mosques in Christchurch.

“The victims are ours, but the person who committed this violent crime against us is not. She has no place in New Zealand,” the politician said, demonstrating both her compassion and solidarity with the victims as well as her firmness towards the far-right ideology behind the assault. and the people who claim it.

Picture of “confusion”

But it is truly with her management of the COVID-19 pandemic that the former leader of the International Union of Socialist Youth has achieved a reputation far exceeding that normally conferred on leaders of countries of this size.

The closing of borders and the imposition of severe restrictions, combined with the geographical isolation of the island country, have served to protect the population for a long time. But the arrival of ultra-contagious variants like Omicron and its derivatives ended up eroding the national consensus on the approach to follow.

In the spring, hundreds of furious opponents occupied the outskirts of parliament for several weeks until the police intervened with the support of the Prime Minister, who ultimately resigned herself to lifting the restrictions, like most western countries.

“The government is no longer seen as being in control of the health situation,” notes Gary Hawke, professor emeritus of governance linked to the University of Victoria in Wellington.

The implementation problems encountered for important initiatives relating to the health system, water management or relations with Aboriginal communities have also fueled an image of “confusion” which, he says, is rubbing off on popularity. of the Prime Minister, but without influencing her image outside the borders.

“The world is not interested in internal developments in New Zealand,” Hawke said to explain the apparent dichotomy.

Ardern and the opposition

Inflation and the rise in interest rates implemented to curb it add to the difficulties of Jacinda Ardern, who has also had to deal with an outbreak of violence stemming from a conflict between armed gangs.

The opposition is enjoying the situation, not without exasperating the progressive politician, who continues to say she is “optimistic” for the future, while recognizing the difficulty of her task.

She escaped parliament in mid-December in the face of attacks from ACT leader David Seymour, who asked if his government was capable of admitting his mistakes, calling him an “arrogant asshole” when she believed his microphone off.

M^me Ardern apologized to her opponent. And the two opponents then agreed to auction off an excerpt from the parliamentary minutes covering the incident to raise money for charity.

It remains to be seen whether this spirit of collaboration will survive the upcoming ballot, which should normally take place at the end of the year.

“I can’t tell you what the future holds because I’ve learned to be wary of such predictions. But I can tell you that Labor is best placed to respond to the challenges. Bring it, ”she said in November at the annual training conference.