Jacinda Ardern, the premiere that enchants abroad, but loses its brilliance at home

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Abroad, the prime minister Giacinda Arden New Zealand remains a leading liberal figure. On a recent trip to the United States, he gave the opening address at Harvard, joked with Stephen Colbert, and met with President Biden in the Oval Office.

At each stop, he highlighted his successes in passing the arms restrictions Y manage the pandemic.

At home, Mrs. Ardern’s star is fading. Rising prices for food, fuel and rent are making life more difficult for many New Zealanders, and an outbreak of gang violence has shocked suburbans who aren’t used to worrying too much about their safety.

More fundamentally, there are deeper and deeper doubts that Ms Ardern can get the “transformative” change he promised on systemic problems, when house prices reach stratospheric levels, the country’s carbon emissions increase despite his government’s promises and child poverty rates they remain stubbornly high.

surveys

Polls show that his center-left Labor Party has it the lowest level of support in the last five yearswith elections imminent in 2023. This, said Morgan Godfery, a liberal writer and senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Otago in Dunedin, reflects a view that Ardern is “missing in action” on issues that matter to voters.

“New Zealanders who see this every day they feel frustrated because of the lack of change, “Godfery said.” But if you look from abroad, you don’t see the lack of politics, see the personality. And this is where the mismatch comes in. “

Ardern has built an international profile like progressive and compassionate feminist leader, which came to the fore even more when a wave of right-wing populism engulfed the United States and other countries. It allowed him to amass stellar power unusual for the leader of a small country.

In his first term, he garnered wide praise as he led his country in the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque massacre and during the rise of the pandemic.

A few days after the mosque shooting, he announced a total ban on military-style weapons. And after the arrival of the coronavirustook quick action to remove the virus through blockades and border controls, largely preserving normal life.

His pandemic success helped bring his party up absolute majority in Parliament during the last elections, in October 2020, the first time a party won a majority since the country switched to the current electoral system in 1993.

But it could also cause your current problems. When New Zealand emerged from the pandemic with one of the lowest death rates in the world, “there was a sense that the government could really pull the plug to stop a virus ravaging the rest of the world,” said Ben Thomas. , a conservative commentator.

inflation and violence

Now, with most of the virus restrictions lifted, the Ardern government has lost its unifying fight against the pandemic and with it much of its bipartisan support. What remains is skyrocketing inflation, increased gun violence and little progress on the problems that have plagued New Zealand for decades.

“The prime minister has gone from untouchable, near-Olympic levels, to being a regular politician again,” said Thomas.

Ardern, 41, is one of the many world leaders whose support fell amid economic woes caused by the war in Ukraine and supply chain problems linked to the pandemic.

Biden’s approval ratings are around 40, and French President Emmanuel Macron has lost his party’s parliamentary majority in an election marked by frustration over the cost of living.

New Zealand’s inflation rate of 6.9 percent is lower than the 9.2 percent rate for the developed world as a whole, and Ardern responded to the criticism by pointing out global pressures beyond their control.

“The whole world is experiencing the worst economic shock since the Great Depression, with the war in Ukraine and supply chain problems related to Covid-19 adding to the worst increase in inflation in decades,” said Andrew Campbell, spokesperson. by Ardern.

His government has announced, among other measures, a payment of NZ $ 350 ($ 220) to low- and middle-income citizens to help offset the rising cost of living. Many, however, consider the government’s responses to be inadequate and are dissatisfied with comparisons abroad.

“It’s not the government’s fault. but it is a government problemTommaso said.

shootings

Ardern also found himself facing increasing gun violence, at least with 23 car shootings In relation to band reported between the end of May and the beginning of June, when two once allied gangs fought for the territory.

Sometimes police officers, who are normally unarmed in New Zealand, they were forced to carry guns in parts of Auckland, the largest city in the country. Last week, Ardern demoted his police minister, saying he had lost “focus”.

Ardern’s current difficulties are the latest turn in an unexpectedly rapid political rise.

After his sudden rise to the Labor leadership in 2017, his party lived on a wave of “Jacindamania”fueled by his fresh face and promises of big reforms, to form a government with two smaller parties in a shattered victory over the Center-right National Party.

Three years later, in the upcoming national elections, 50.01 percent of voters supported Labor. In February of this year, polls showed that the party continued to win support for up to 50% of voters.

That month, the government began to loosen restrictions for the coronavirus. With the pandemic fading as a problem, the Labor Party now has an average of 35% support in the polls, with the National Party at 40%. Including its allied parts, the two parties are also in the polls.

Political analysts aren’t sure if Ardern can make progress on any of the longstanding issues to help improve his position.

Successive governments have failed to control an overheated real estate market. The problem escalated under the Ardern government, with the average house price rising 58% between 2017 and 2021. Last year, the average house price surpassed NZ $ 1 million, or $ 626,000.

Child poverty

The country has also struggled with persistent child poverty, which it causes rates of rheumatic fever and lung disease which are surprisingly high for a developed country.

In 2017, Ardern said reducing child poverty was a key goal. Currently 13.6% of New Zealand children live in poverty, a decrease from 16.5% in 2018, but above the government target of 10.5%.

And despite Ms Ardern’s promise to treat climate change as the “nuclear-free time” of her generation, emissions increased 2.2% from 2018.

Campbell said the government has made progress on important issues despite the challenges of covid-19. “We continue to address the long-term challenges our country has faced, including overseeing the largest government housing program in decades, lifting tens of thousands of children out of poverty and taking real action for the climate, “he said.

But Godfery, the liberal writer, said that Ardern he hadn’t gotten enough help from his team translate his rhetoric into politics.

Ms. Ardern “is a genuinely caring and compassionate person who has a deep commitment to the issues of inequality, climate change and child poverty,” said Godfery. “But often this does not translate into a concrete political agenda”.

c.2022 The New York Times Company

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