Jacinda Ardern’s successor as head of the ruling party and as prime minister of New Zealand will be the former COVID minister.
Chris Hipkins, a former minister for COVID-19 in New Zealand, has been appointed the nation’s new prime minister.
Hipkins was the lone contender to succeed the flamboyant Jacinda Ardern, who startled the country last week by announcing her resignation as prime minister after more than five years in office. Hipkins received the entire backing of lawmakers from the ruling Labour Party on Sunday.
On Wednesday, Hipkins, 44, will be formally sworn into his new position.
Less than nine months will pass before he runs in a difficult general election in which opinion surveys show that his party is falling behind the conservative opposition.
Hipkins stated during a press conference announcing his appointment that “this is the biggest honour and largest responsibility of my life.”
READ ALSO: Russia moves closer to two towns in the Zaporizhia region of Ukraine
“The challenge that lies ahead excites and energises me.”
Hipkins praised Ardern’s leadership right away, describing her as one of New Zealand’s greatest prime ministers and a role model for women and girls worldwide. He claimed that she “gave voice to those frequently ignored in times of struggle and deliberately went about conducting politics differently.”
The abuse Ardern endured, however, serves as a reminder that “we still have a long way to go to guarantee that women in leadership receive the same respect as their male counterparts,” he continued.
Known as “Chippy,” Hipkins established a track record for proficiency in combating COVID and served as Ardern’s go-to man when other cabinet ministers were having issues.
He was first elected to the legislature in 2008, and he rose to fame by leading the government’s response to the outbreak. Prior to becoming the COVID response minister at the end of the year, he was appointed health minister in July 2020.
Carmel Sepuloni, the first deputy prime minister of Pacific descent from New Zealand, was appointed by Hipkins.
Sepuloni, 46, resides in Auckland and is of Samoan, Tongan, and European ancestry. She has a number of portfolios, including those for arts, culture, and heritage as well as social development and employment.
A working-class girl from a small New Zealand village becoming deputy prime minister, she claimed, was “quite hard to imagine.”
According to reports, opposition leader Christopher Luxon texted Hipkins to express his congratulations.
Luxon, however, asserted that Hipkins and Sepuloni were part of a government that had “failed terribly” to accomplish its goals and that, despite the change in leadership, things would remain the same.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
