On the strength of her competence in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealand voters have not only given Jacinda Ardern's Labour Party a second term in office, but an outright majority government winning 64 out of 120 seats in the New Zealand Parliament.
What is remarkable about this is that New Zealand adopted Mixed Member Proportional Representation (MMPP) back in 1996. Until today, this has meant that the Labour Party or the conservative National Party has had to rely on smaller parties to form a governing coalition.
When Ardern, now 40, came to power in 2017, not only did she need the support of the Green Party but also that of New Zealand First, a right-wing populist party led by Winston Peters. Indeed, Ardern named Peters her Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister. This would be roughly equivalent to Alexandria Ocasio Cortez naming Ted Cruz as her vice-presidential running mate. However, New Zealand First failed to reach the 5% of the popular vote necessary for representation in parliament which may have effectively ended Peters' long political career. So Ardern will be less constrained to pursue progressive policies aimed at reducing inequality. Although one wonders if Ardern would have been more reluctant to shut down New Zealand's borders absent Peters presence in cabinet.
Prior to the COVID pandemic, a second term was not guaranteed for Ardern as plans to created 100,000 affordable housing units failed spectacularly. But when the greatest crisis of the 21st Century came to New Zealand's shores, Ardern outshone every other leader in the world. Due to Ardern's aggressive measures, New Zealand has had only 1,883 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 along with 25 deaths in a country of 5 million.
At one point, New Zealand went 102 days without any new COVID-19 cases. An outbreak in the capital of Auckland forced the restoration of lockdown measures and delayed the election for a month. But this cluster was declared conquered 10 days ago.
Let's put it this way. Dr. Anthony Fauci would be happy if we reduced the number of new COVID cases in the United States to 10,000 a day. Meanwhile, New Zealand is COVID free.
If any world leader earned their re-election it is Ardern. From the beginning, she emphasized that New Zealand was "our team of five million." President Trump could never deploy such language. But Joe Biden could.
New Zealand voters have rewarded excellence and unity. Let's hope American voters will reject mediocrity and chaos in 17 days from now.
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