Is it normal? Who else would choose to fall from a horse onto a donkey? What would she…
Such accusatory astonishments permeated the intimates of politicians all over the world, and here especially, on the occasion of the voluntary, premature departure of Jacinda Ardern (42) from the position of Prime Minister of New Zealand. They saw her as an apostate from their rule of service - that one should stay in power at all costs, as long as possible, so to speak, until the last breath.
Jasinda's move is an exception, but also an outgrowth of a wider and unmet need. When one takes into account how rapidly the situation is deteriorating both globally and in a number of countries, many statesmen, if they had at least as much conscience as arrogance, should follow her example and leave power. But that doesn't occur to them, and they tend to see in her a new, unacceptable appearance of an auto-oppositionist, a person for whom it has become more important to get rid of the position than to continue serving it.
She explained the decision, tearfully, with unassailable arguments - that her work was a great honor, but that her "reservoir was empty", that is, that her energy was used up (in a series of crises), and that it was time to dedicate herself more to her fiancé and their four and a half year old daughter. There is also unusual symbolism in it - she conceived her daughter during the parliamentary elections, after which she came to power, and now she is leaving power to care for and caress her baby more.
Admittedly, she also gained popularity outside of New Zealand as a rare stateswoman who showed in a radical way that motherhood and managing the nation can go hand in hand. She is only the second leader in recent history (after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto) who gave birth while holding the highest office, and the first to appear at the UN summit with a baby in her arms.
She attracted attention when, at the age of 37, she became the youngest prime minister in the world until then, and when she expressed her condolences to the families of massacred local Muslims by wearing a hijab, and when she appeared at the British court wearing a Maori cloak, the natives of New Zealand, in order to remind the debt of the colonialists. according to them, whose position her government improved.
Already a highly ranked country on the list of human development (13th in the world, third outside Europe), she tried to improve it with a series of reforms, and when she included the right to "achieve happiness" in her economic policy, she became a global star of social democracy. She was also praised as one of the champions in the fight against the pandemic, but it also had a boomerang effect.
The long-term quarantine slowed down the economy, increased inflation, and support for her and her Labor party dropped sharply before the October parliamentary elections, which some analysts take as a reason for her shortening her second three-year term. However, her international rating did not decrease.
She receives accolades from all sides. In particular, they highlight: the elevation of a small nation (a little over five million souls) among specific global role models, because it injected empathy into today's increasingly rough relations, with the personal example of Jacinda, as an inventive and leader of strong emotional intelligence.
Predictions are heard that, with the acquired reputation, this graduate communicator could build an enviable career as a lecturer on international stages. Among other things, to teach how politicians should find the right moment to step down from office, so that they are not obstinate, and then fruitless, in their attempts to preserve power like Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro...
Rulers who served practically unlimited mandates, such as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, will not take advice in Jasinda's style, not even in authoritative consideration, because it is, allegedly, an "inexhaustible reservoir". It is also filled with the support of members of the privileged class, who enjoy eternal power. Such people instinctively fear the realization of unread research, cited by the New York Times, according to which two-thirds of post-Cold War dictatorships collapsed as a system shortly after the leader left power.
If, by any chance, she visited us, Jacinda would be speechless. Here, voluntary, premature resignation is hated among those who can give it, almost like a crime among honest citizens.
For example, the head of state promised about twenty times that he would step down from the head of the ruling party, but he did not do so. If he really left, it would mean the end of her, warned his close associate. And party leaders did not, with few exceptions, resign after electoral defeats.
This, of course, does not diminish the effect of Jasinda's example, outside the zones, such as ours, where leaving office is prescribed as self-opposition. She, on the other hand, showed that a voluntary, premature resignation from the highest position can be a supreme act of statesmanship. For the good of the country and family, and even one's own party, as well as for the sake of changing personal priorities.
I recall, on these occasions, a televised pantomime competition. It was necessary to explain the term - purpose with facial expressions and hands. The witty presenter explained it by first simply showing the top with his fists and then showing the descent from it.
He succeeded. Purpose is defined as leaving the top. After several decades, this variant of meaning was politically confirmed, thanks to Jacinda.
Is there anyone here, and elsewhere, to take over that baton from her?
Bonus video:
