New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation this week after being the nation’s leader for six years. She cited “burnout” as the reason. But many believe Ardern chose to exit early because she expected to face a humiliating defeat in this year’s election. Many Kiwis (a nickname for New Zealanders) are fed up with her government’s harsh Covid-19 restrictions.
Ardern was only 37 when she was elected as prime minister. She championed leftists’ favorite causes, such as climate change and so-called gender equality. She rose to international fame following the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attack, when a gunman killed 51 people in two mosques. Ardern quickly introduced a strict gun law that banned all “military-style” semi-automatic guns and so-called “assault rifles,” and established a mandatory gun “buyback” program. Arden also wore a hijab to show her respect for the Muslim community. She became a leftist darling and gained fans worldwide. Her images adorned the cover of Time and Vogue. In many ways, she became the AOC of New Zealand.
It turned out the strict gun law Ardern championed failed to curb gun crimes. On the contrary, gun crimes rose to a 10-year high after the law went into effect, according to Radio New Zealand. But the pandemic was really the defining moment for Ardern and revealed that she is not the compassionate democracy defender she wanted us to believe.
In early 2020, when New Zealand had only 100 Covid cases, Ardern took the “go hard and go early” approach and imposed
