Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Th🐲ursday said she is stepping down as New Zealand's leader and will not contest general elections set for October.
Fighting back tears, Arde🔯rn told reporters in Napier that February 7 will be her last day in office. She will hold her seat as a lawmaker until the general election, which she said would be held on October 14.
"I am not leaving because it was hard. Had that been the case I probably would have departed two months into the job. I am leaving because with such a privileged role, comes responsibility, the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead, and ♍also, when you are not. I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple," she said.
Ardern had faced a tough election campaign this year. Her lib♐eral Labour Party won re-election two years ago in a landslide of historic proportions, but recent🌺 polls have put her party behind its conservative rivals.
She 🔯was lauded globally for her country's initial handling of the coronavirus pandemic after New Zealand managed for months to stop the virus at its borders. But its zero-tolerance strategy was abandoned once it was challenged by new variants and vaccines became available.
She faced toug💞her critic🏅ism at home that the strategy was too strict.
Ardern in December announced a Royal Commission of𓃲 Inquiry would look into whether the government made the right decisions in battling COVID-19 and how it can better prepare for future pandemics. Its report is due next year.
Deputy Prime Ministe☂r Grant Robertson said he wouldn't be contesting the leadership of the party, throwing open the competition to become New Zealand's next prime minister to other member🎐s of the Labour Party.
