New Zealand's PM Jacinda Ardern to step down from office in February

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced in an emotional press briefing on Thursday that she would be stepping down from her role as Prime Minister by February 7 after five and a half years of service. WK News.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced in an emotional press briefing that she will step down from her role as PM, saying "it's time." 

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced in an emotional press briefing on Thursday that she would be stepping down from her role as Prime Minister by February 7 after five and a half years of service. 

Prime Minister Ardern said she had taken time to consider her future over the summer break, hoping to find the heart and energy to go on in the role. "But unfortunately I haven't, and I would be doing a disservice to New Zealand to continue," she told reporters on Thursday. 

"This has been the most fulfilling 5 1/2 years of my life, but it has also had its challenges," Ardern said, citing crises from the COVID-19 pandemic to the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand's history.

"But I'm not leaving because it was hard," she said. "I am leaving because with such a privilege comes responsibility -- the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead, and also, when you are not."

Prime Minister Ardern said she will not be seeking reelection this year and that her term will end by February 7. The Prime Minister also announced that a general election would take place on October 14. 

The 44-year-old politician became a leading figure in New Zealand's response to the global pandemic, serving nearly two years as the COVID-19 response minister. At only 37 years old at the time of her election to power in 2017, Ardern is one of the world's youngest female state leaders. She is also one of the few to give birth while in office. 



WK News, Wellington. 


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