International
pti-PTI
Wellington,
Jan
19:
(AP)
Prime
Minister
Jacinda
Ardern
on
Thursday
said
she
is
stepping
down
as
New
Zealand’s
leader
and
will
not
contest
general
elections
set
for
October.
Fighting
back
tears,
Ardern
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
liberal
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
tougher
criticism
at
home
that
the
strategy
was
too
strict.
Ardern
in
December
announced
a
Royal
Commission
of
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
Minister
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
members
of
the
Labour
Party.
