Jacinda Ardern was elected to a new term as Prime Minister in New Zealand on October 17, 2020. -

MICHAEL BRADLEY / AFP

The Labor Party is almost guaranteed to win an absolute majority in Parliament, thanks to the government's successes in the fight against the pandemic.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Saturday thanked her compatriots who voted for her Labor Party in the general elections, telling reporters that she thus obtained a mandate to accelerate social reforms in the country.

"After this result, we have a mandate to accelerate our response and the recovery, and we will start tomorrow," she told reporters questioning her about her social and environmental reforms.

While 95% of the ballots had been counted, Labor led with 49% of the vote, which it was projected would see it control 64 of the 120 seats in Parliament.

Never has a New Zealand party achieved an absolute majority since the reform of the electoral system in 1996, which means that all the prime ministers who have succeeded since then have had to govern in coalition.

Victory without appeal, recognized by his opponents

Even before the final results, New Zealand opposition leader Judith Collins officially recognized her opponent's victory on Saturday evening in a speech.

“Congratulations to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, to whom I called, because these are, I believe, extraordinary results for the Labor Party,” the leader of the National Party (conservatives) said on television.

His formation was credited with only 27% of the vote, a score which would give him only 35 seats in Parliament, its worst result since 2002. On the other hand, it would be for Labor the best electoral result since 1946, which exceeds forecasts from polling institutes.

The leader of the center-left party, Claire Szabo, praised the campaign of the charismatic Prime Minister, who had already benefited in 2017 from an extraordinary wave of sympathy, nicknamed "Jacindamania", which had enabled her to conquer power against all odds.

“There is no doubt that Jacinda Ardern's very strong leadership is one of the main reasons for all of this,” Claire Szabo told TVNZ.

A charismatic and committed Prime Minister

Jacinda Ardern, who turned 40 this summer, nicknamed the poll the "Covid elections", basing her campaign thoroughly on her very solid record in the fight against the pandemic.

New Zealand - five million people - has recorded 25 deaths from the coronavirus and the government's strategy has been hailed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Prime Minister had repeatedly insisted on the need to "stick together in uncertain times", a way of remembering that the second half of her mandate was marked by a succession of unprecedented crises in the archipelago.

“Whatever crisis I am going through, you will always have the assurance that I will give everything I have (…), even if it involves a huge sacrifice,” she said this week.

Voters were also invited to vote on two referendums, the first on the use of cannabis for recreational purposes, the second on euthanasia.

The results of these consultations are not expected before October 30.

Society

Christine Lagarde praises the work of women leaders and deplores their understaffing

  • World

  • Covid 19

  • Elections

  • Jacinda Ardern

  • Coronavirus

  • New Zealand