The “Minister of Covid” is preparing to assume the position of Prime Minister in New Zealand

Labor MPs on Friday nominated Chris Hopkins as prime minister of New Zealand, the party announced in a statement, and the former COVID-19 response officer will replace Jacinda Ardern.

And Hepkins must still receive the official nomination from his party leadership on Sunday, before he becomes the forty-first prime minister of his country, after the sudden resignation of Ardern on Thursday.

The new prime minister will be responsible for leading his party into general elections in October.

Hipkins currently holds the posts of police and education ministers, but is best known for his role as Covid-19 minister during the height of the pandemic.

Hopkins said in his first press conference today, Saturday, that the role of the prime minister is "a tremendous privilege, and it is also a great responsibility."

He added that he was a hard worker committed to leaving New Zealand better than he found it.

"I feel energized and enthusiastic, and I really look forward to carrying out my duties," he said, stressing in particular that he is able to win the October 14 elections.

He said Ardern had provided calm, stable and reassuring leadership, particularly during some of the most challenging years the country faced.

"I hope to do that too, even though we are different people," he said.

He refused to reveal the person he would appoint as his deputy.

Grant Robertson is currently deputy prime minister, while Kelvin Davies is the leader of the Labor Party.

For his part, Duncan Webb of the Labor Party said that the electoral board of the party "will meet at one o'clock on Sunday afternoon to confirm the nomination of Hopkins and confirm him as leader of the party."

As leader of the ruling party, Hopkins will become prime minister when Ardern leaves office.

Editorial writer Josie Pagani saw him as "sensitive, gentle, competent and assertive".

And Jacinda Ardern, 42, shocked New Zealand with her announcement, Thursday, of her sudden withdrawal from power, less than three years after she won a second term after a landslide electoral victory, stressing that she “no longer has enough energy” to continue ruling the country after five and a half years. In power, nine months before the date of the legislative elections.

During her tenure, Ardern faced the Covid-19 pandemic, a deadly volcanic eruption, and the worst attack committed in the country when a white supremacist in 2019 killed 51 worshipers in two mosques in Christchurch.

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