Who to replace Jacinda Ardern?

The resignation of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, which took her country by surprise, paves the way for the appointment of a successor of Maori origin, few candidates having expressed interest in this post.

Three days after the resignation of Jacinda Ardern, the Labor caucus will try on Sunday to appoint her successor.

To become Prime Minister, he will however have to obtain two-thirds of the votes.

If none of the candidates succeeds, then a long battle will ensue, involving members of the Labor Party and its affiliated unions.

Chris Hipkins, 44, is the heavy favorite in the polls after Jacinda Ardern's assistant Grant Robertson pulled out of the race.

Chris Hipkins, whose candidacy is considered serious, has been very exposed in the media, having been responsible for managing the Covid-19 crisis as well as the education and police portfolios.

Other candidates in the running include Justice Minister Kiri Allan, a figurehead of Labor MPs of Maori origin, and Immigration Minister Michael Wood.

The 42-year-old is responsible for raising the minimum wage in New Zealand, and enjoys considerable support in the country's trade union movement. 

For the moment, none of the three has yet formalized their candidacy.

“We would like there to be a Maori Prime Minister one day”

New Zealand has never been led by a Prime Minister of Maori origin.

But former business lawyer Kiri Allan could break through the glass ceiling on Sunday.

As soon as she entered Parliament in 2017, she was quickly presented as a future leader, even the first head of government of Maori origin in the country's history.

Kiri Allan is the second youngest of 10 children and grew up in a working class home on the east coast.

She married her partner Natalie in 2016, shortly after New Zealand legalized same-sex marriage.

She had been forced out of the hemicycle in April 2021 after doctors diagnosed her with stage 3 cervical cancer, but returned to duty only three months later. 

On Sunday, the 15 Maori members of the Labor caucus hope to influence the ballot.

"Obviously we would like to see a Maori prime minister one day," said influential Labor minister Kelvin Davis.

Willie Jackson, former Labor caucus co-chairman, said it was extremely important that Maori MPs have a voice.

“We are talking about the prime minister of our nation, so we want to play a role,” he said.

The Maori party, Te Pati Maori, has also said it is time New Zealand was led by a prime minister of Maori descent.

"Any other result would be a decline of Aotearoa (the official name of New Zealand in Maori, Editor's note) after Jacinda Ardern," party co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi warned in a statement.

The first Maori are said to have arrived in New Zealand from Polynesia around 700 years ago.

Around 17% of New Zealand's five million people now identify as Maori, according to the country's latest census.

With AFP

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