Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern, the incumbent Prime Minister of New Zealand is one of the greatest role models of today. She embodies the qualities of a perfect leader and is praised globally. She is mainly known for being the youngest-ever leader of the New Zealand Labour Party as well as the youngest female prime minister. [Dethroned in 2019 by Sanna Marin of Finland]. But to the New Zealanders, Mrs. Ardern remains one of the best politicians to have governed.
New Zealand, a country primarily known for its biodiversity and lush sceneries or the indigenous group, the Māori, has been viewed in a more vulnerable way by the world. This island was victim to attack on both their cultural field with the Christchurch mosque shootings and the environmental field with the pandemic and the White Island eruption. Obviously, if New Zealand is still seen as it is today, it is largely thanks to the acting Prime Minister, Mrs. Ardern since 2017 who dealt with all the situations with an amazing flair and by displaying traits other World Leaders could definitely learn from.
Among the plethora of qualities Jacinda showcased during the mosque attack, her empathy and compassion are widely praised especially by the survivors and the victims’ families. Following the terrorist act, Ardern travelled to Chirstchurch and met the families of the victims wearing a hijab out of respect for the deceased. This act was appreciated and seen as a sincere move and extraordinary human care. She even reassured the population with a speech where she talks about her goal of reaching ‘a more inclusive nation, one that stands proud of our diversity and embraces it’. Moreover, Ardern swiftly tightened gun control laws, namely by banning high-risk firearms like the ones used during the attacks, while increasing funding to aid the mental and physical health of those affected by the actions of the White Supremacist. In 2021, the memorial service marking two years since the tragedy, she spoke about how the country had ‘a duty’ to support all communities including the Muslim one and reiterated her conviction towards a united population .
Another tragedy which hit New Zealand was the eruption of Whakaari found on White Island, a tourist attraction of the island. Similarly, after the calamity, Ardern was seen travelling to comfort the victims which caused 22 deaths. This event could have easily been wrongly handled since 20 out of the 22 who perished in the volcanic eruption were foreigners. However, to Jacinda, the tourists and their families were no different than the local inhabitants themselves and were consoled with the same support . In addition, she heartily thanked the Whakatane first responders and the local fire station and admitted feeling guilty about the inappropriate safety regulations surrounding the incident. Soon afterwards, she reviewed and updated the latter with the help of the tour operators and the National Emergency management Agency. Like the mosque shootings, Ardern held a memorial service after a year and a minute of silence was observed for the whole country. The ceremony included a series of religious songs called waiata and prayers karakia were made as an homage for the fallen.
Lastly but definitely not least, the way Ardern’s policies fought the pandemic was commendable and salutary. It was even quoted ‘one of the world’s most successful’ by The Guardian. As soon as New Zealand recorded their first case, Ardern began an ‘elimination’ strategy where she used regular communication updates to inform the population of every change of the situation on the island in addition with lockdowns. This transparency reduced the panic and unrest within the population. She also partnered with the Māori and together [referred as ‘team of 5 million’], they ensured a proper framing of the goals she wanted: a perfect epitome of a good leader. Additionally, she convinced the opposing parties to reach a political consensus to prevent conflicts within the inhabitants with opposing views. Plus, following the Omicron virus, she immediately changed her plan to a ‘mitigation’ strategy which aims to reduce propagation instead of attempting to erase the virus. That plan focuses on strengthening the health sector to reduce the number of unaware asymptomatic patients as well as provide proper care to affected ones. She provided precise, clear rules and justifications which allowed the population to be able to fight the pandemic at their own levels instead of walking blindly through the situation.
It was definitely unexpected for that Prime Minister and the population to witness all the calamities and disasters which hit the island in the past few years. Yet, the former displayed her genuineness and leadership skills to approach the problems. These selfless thinking patterns and compassionate ideologies are ones which earned her many laurels compared to her counterparts abroad. Ardern is considered as a perfect leader especially in times of crisis by a lot of people even those in another country. For, according to them, is where she excels the most and she had the unfortunate ability to show it.
BY TYLER AH VON
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