Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, won her re-election campaign in a landslide on Saturday. Ardern’s party, the center-left positioned Labour Party, also won big, taking 64 of the 120 seats within the country’s parliament. It is the first time since the introduction of New Zealand’s Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) representation in 1996 that a party has won the majority of seats in Parliament. Under the MMP, voters are asked to vote twice; once for their preferred party and once for their preferred candidate (the representative of that certain part of the electorate). Prime Minister Ardern’s Labour Party received 49.1% of the preferred party vote, channeling to 64 members of the party being elected to parliamentary seats. Ardern’s victory does not come as a total surprise. In fact, she has been praised by other world leaders for her kindness and compassion, guiding New Zealand through a terrorist attack as well as the global COVID-19 pandemic. As far as the pandemic goes, New Zealand was quick to prevent its spread. They began preparing their hospitals in early February and began instituting border-control policies the very same month. However, it was the compassion of Ardern that shined. She often portrayed the country’s response to the pandemic as unified and “a team of 5 million,” promising that if everyone worked together, the effects of the virus would not be as devastating. Ardern and her party also enjoyed high approval ratings since the beginning of the pandemic due to their response, so it was no secret that she was on a comfortable pace to win reelection. However, it is quite significant that her party won the first majority under this almost 25-year-old representation model. After a successful campaign, Arden and her party need to continue harnessing this confidence, and it seems they are ready based on their campaign slogan “let’s keep moving.”
Trevor Mohrmann
Links:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54519628
https://www.npr.org/2020/10/17/924934728/new-zealand-pm-ardern-wins-re-election-in-best-showing-for-labour-party-in-decad
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