The Foreign Affairs News The Leading News Portal
International
Oct 18, 2020

NZ polls give mandate to Jacinda Ardern

FA News Desk

World’s youngest female leader, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has won a landslide victory in the country’s general election.

Ms. Ardern’s centre-left Labour Party garnered 49.1% votes with 64 seats of the 120-seat of the parliament.

The opposition centre-right National Party won 26.8% in Saturday’s poll – just 35 seats in the.

With this mandate, the Labour Party got a rare outright majority making it able to govern New Zealand alone.

Ardern’s closest competitor in the race was National Party’s Judith Collins officially acknowledged Ardern’s victory in a speech on Saturday night, congratulating her on an “outstanding result”.

The election was widely seen as a referendum on 40-year-old Ardern’s leadership since she took office three years ago.

The leader’s commanding victory comes after she was praised for her successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and with the promise she will tackle social inequality in her second term.

Thanking to New Zealanders for delivering her party a landslide general election victory, report also added, Prime Minister Jacinda Arden says “Thank you to the many people who gave us their vote, who trusted us to continue leading New Zealand’s recovery.”

Meanwhile, after the vote on Saturday, New Zealand is to legalise euthanasia and recreational cannabis from October 30 and will becomes the third country in the world to allow the adult use and sale of cannabis nationwide, after Uruguay and Canada.

(Agencies’ inputs based)

Leave a Reply