Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, wins for the second time due to the Coronavirus.

 

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New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern wins re-election in Labor's best show in decades.

Jacinda Ardern won a second term as Prime Minister of New Zealand after her success in dealing with the outbreak of the Coronavirus in the country helped achieve a landslide victory.

Labor party victory.

Preliminary results show that Ardern's centre-left Labor Party won 49% of the vote, meaning her party is likely to score the highest score of any party since the introduction of the current political system in 1996.

Congratulations from her partner Clark Gifford.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern receives congratulations from her partner Clark Gifford after her victory speech to Labor Party members at an event in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday.

The victory was not surprising. Ardern's leadership has helped New Zealand become one of the most successful countries in dealing with coronavirus pandemic. With the election approaching, polls have shown Ardern's Labor Party is outperforming its closest competitor, the Conservative National Party.

Composition of the New Zealand Parliament.

The Labor Party was expected to win 64 seats in the 120-member parliament, giving it the power to govern without building the coalition that typically marks proportional representation. The National Party won 27 percent of the vote and won 35 seats. The liberal New Zealand ACT Party and the left-wing Green Party each won 10 seats. The Maori Party - a centre-left party focused on indigenous rights - won one seat.

It is not yet clear how Ardern and her party will move aggressively to enact progressive policies. In her victory speech, Ardern acknowledged that while her party has a "very strong and very clear mandate", she has promised to be the voice of all New Zealanders.

Ardern victory speech.

"We live in an increasingly polarized world," Ardern, 40, told hundreds of cheering supporters. “A place where people have lost, more and more, the ability to see each other’s point of view. I hope this election, New Zealand has shown that this is not what we are. That, as a nation, we can listen and we can debate. After all, we are younger than To lose sight of others. "

"Elections aren't always great at bringing people together," said Ardern. "But they also don't need to tear each other apart. In times of crisis, I think New Zealand has shown that."

The Labor Party victory was a major defeat for the National Party, which lost 21 seats. 

"We're going to take time to think, we'll review and we'll change," said party leader Judith Collins. "Patriotism will reappear from this loss a stronger, disciplined, and more interdependent party."

Other items on the ballot.

Other items on the ballot included two major referendums reflecting the sweeping social change in the island nation of 5 million people. One can legalize recreational cannabis - the first apparent effort by any country to hold a national popular vote on whether marijuana should be approved without a medical purpose.

The preliminary results will not be released until the end of the month, but if the measure is passed, New Zealand will join Canada, Georgia, South Africa and Uruguay in the list of countries with legal consumption of the pot at the national level. Parliament has yet to approve the measure.

Another referendum asks whether New Zealanders support the End of Life Choice Act. This law, passed by Parliament in 2019, legalizes euthanasia for those who are mortally ill, have less than six months to live and suffer "unbearable" suffering. It will only come into effect if approved by the majority of voters.

The New Zealand Prime Minister has truly become the talk of the world.