By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern on Thursday announced her decision to quit from her position saying, she has not had “enough in the tank to do” what her office demands.
“I’m 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. I know what this job takes.
“And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple,” NBC News quoted her as saying at her party’s first caucus meeting of the year ahead of the October national election.
Her term as prime minister comes to an end on February 7, but she is expected to remain as an MP until the election this year.
“I am human, politicians are human. We give all that we can for as long as we can. And then it’s time. And for me, it’s time,” she said.
Ardern said she had reflected over the summer break on whether she had the energy to continue in the role, and had concluded she did not.
In 2017, Ardern became the world’s youngest female head of government when she was elected prime minister at the age of 37.
She has led New Zealand through the Covid-19 pandemic, and a series of disasters including the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, and the White Island volcanic eruption.
“This has been the most fulfilling five and a half years of my life. But it’s also had its challenges – among an agenda focused on housing, child poverty and climate change, we encountered a … domestic terror event, a major natural disaster, a global pandemic, and an economic crisis,” she said.
