Jacinda Ardern
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation from the legislature on Wednesday, capping a career marked by compassionate leadership in difficult situations even as she dealt with increasing online abuse.
Ardern stunned New Zealand earlier this year when she announced her resignation as prime minister and retirement from politics, citing a lack of enough in the tank.
The 42-year-old, who was once the world’s youngest female leader, said in her final speech to parliament that she never expected to be the country’s leader.
During her valedictory address, she joked, “It was a cross between a sense of duty to steer a moving goods train… and being hit by one”.
“And that’s probably because my internal reluctance to lead was only matched by a tremendous sense of responsibility”, Ardern added.
Jacinda Ardern led the country through natural disasters, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre, in which a white supremacist gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers.
Ardern said, “These stories and phases will be with me for the rest of my life. That is the prime minister’s responsibility and privilege”.
Ardern devoted a significant portion of her speech to climate change, urging the country’s politicians to work together to address the issue.
Former New Zealand Prime Minister said, “Climate change is a disaster. It has arrived”.
She further said, “And so, one of the few things I will ask of this house before I leave is that you please remove the politics from climate change”.
She will now focus on combating online extremism as part of the Christchurch Call project, which she established as prime minister in the aftermath of the mosque attack.
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