On January 19th, 2023 the world was shocked to hear that Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, had resigned from her position after five years at the head of the Country. Her mandate was anything but easy, as she ruled the country through many challenges: first and foremost, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Christchurch attacks, that caused the death of 51 people in 2019. But why did she make such a decision? And what does this tell us about our society?
Ardern has stated that one of the responsibilities of such a role is knowing when you’re no longer the right person to be in charge. This is the main reason behind her resignation. To be prime minister, one has to give all his or her energy and always have more in case of unexpected events. However, in the last couple of years her energies have been completely drained by all the obstacles she had to overcome. On top of those, Ardern was also the first woman prime minister to become a mother during her tenure.
Politicians are humans: this is the message that Ardern wants to transmit through her resignation. After making many sacrifices, such as postponing her marriage, and confronting five years full of challenges, she simply didn’t feel like she could continue.
But deciding to step back isn’t a sign of weakness: it takes great courage to recognise and admit our own limits, fragility and psychological urges and even more to reveal them in front of the whole world.
During her resignation speech, Ardern happily told her partner that now they can finally get married and have more time for their daughter who will soon start school. Giving all her energy to her role of prime minister forced Ardern to put aside her personal life: this was definitely one of her greatest sacrifices.
When the news of Ardern’s resignation broke out, the BBC published an article putting in doubt the fact that women can really have it all, both leadership roles and private life. As Jacinda expected, her decision has been openly critiqued as well as praised. Nevertheless, we cannot neglect the fact that it took great courage and sense of responsibility for Jacinda to take and officialize such a decision.
