New Zealand: Jacinda Ardren secures 2nd term as PM with landslide victory

New Delhi: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardren has returned to power for the second term as her party won a landslide majority in the General elections.

Jacinda Ardren is credited for her excellent tackling of the coronavirus situation in the country.

“With 87 per cent of the votes counted, Ardern’s center-left Labour Party has won 48.9 per cent of the vote, meaning her party looks likely to score the highest result that any party has achieved since the current political system was introduced in 1996,” CNN reported.

The center-right National Party, Labour’s main opposition, is on 27 per cent which is probably the party’s worst result since 2002.

While results are still being counted, National leader Judith Collins said that she accepted defeat and called Ardren to congratulate for an “outstanding result” for the Labour party.

The final result will come out in about 3 weeks, after special votes are counted, including those cast by New Zealanders living overseas.

Labour has been hovering on 50% and it won’t be clear if a coalition needs to be formed until the final results are announced. In New Zealand, coalitions are the norm.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s centre-left Labour Party wins a landslide victory in New Zealand’s general election: Reuters pic.twitter.com/u7TpyK6wlA

— ANI (@ANI) October 17, 2020

Arden’s early and proactive approach to handling the coronavirus helped the country to ward off devastating Covid-19 outbreaks seen in other parts of the world. The country was one of the first to close its borders, and Ardern announced a nationwide lockdown in March when it only had 102 cases.

At the beginning of the year, polls suggested National and Labour could be in for a tight competition. However, that changed during the pandemic.