Jacinda Arden, the former prime minister of New Zealand, bid adieu to politics as she stepped down from the position on Wednesday. She delivered a personal and emotional farewell speech. "You can be anxious, sensitive, kind, and wear your heart on your sleeve. You can be a mother, or not, an ex-Mormon, or not, a nerd, a crier, a hugger—you can be all of these things, and not only can you be here—you can lead," she said, opening the doors of politics to people who might not see themselves as typical leaders.
"And not only can you be here; you can lead. Just like me," said the outgoing Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Arden explained that she thought she would have to change dramatically to survive in politics. She shared her struggles as a prime minister, revealing that she had worries, thin skin, and anxiety that would leave her in cold sweats or unable to eat. She spoke about her political achievements as well as the battles that she had to fight in her political career. Her farewell speech also included her struggles with infertility and IVF treatment and the impact politics had on her family.
Jacinda Arden Farewell Speech
She cited the reasons she entered politics in her maiden speech: climate change, child poverty, and inequality. However, she had to deal with unexpected challenges during her tenure as prime minister, including a domestic terror attack, a volcano eruption, the COVID-19 pandemic, etc.
Arden was visibly emotional as she recalled speaking to the survivors of the mosque terror attack. She looked up to the members of the Muslim community who were present in the gallery and greeted them with "assalamu alaikum."
Arden is leaving behind a legacy of her own. Her handling of the pandemic crisis, the natural disasters, and the terror attacks on the Muslim community of New Zealand gained her international recognition. However, the slow progress in sectors such as housing crises, climate change, and inequality diminished her achievements inside the country.
She also spoke about confronting enraged protesters. She explained that initially she thought that she could talk them out of conspiracy theories, but after facing similar experiences and seeing the rage, she said that she had to admit that she was wrong.
Arden hopes that her resignation will lower the temperature in New Zealand politics. She had faced a lot of heat during her final year as prime minister, including abusive protests that even followed her to primary schools and speeches.
However, no protests happened during her farewell speech on Wednesday afternoon.
She left the parliament with a standing ovation and loud singing as parliament members and the public rose to sing "Waiata," a traditional Maori song.
Arden, who announced her resignation in January, claimed that "she no longer had it in her tank" after five years of serving as the country’s prime minister. She cited burnout as the reason for her leaving politics. Arden was elected as the prime minister of New Zealand in 2017 at the age of 37, becoming the country’s third female leader and one of the world's youngest leaders.
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