WELLINGTON - The calm and compassion shown by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in response to the killing of 50 Muslims by a suspected white supremacist has burnished the credentials of a leader whose youth and celebrity had given critics' doubts.
Wearing a black head scarf, she hugged relatives and let them set the pace and agenda as she listened and offered comfort. Ardern burst into prominence during New Zealand's 2017 election, feted globally as part of a new wave of progressive, young leaders that included France's Emmanuel Macron and Canada's Justin Trudeau.
Ardern's stratospheric rise to become the country's youngest prime minister and third woman to hold the office resulted in New Zealanders coining the phrase"Jacinda-mania".And as Ardern completed one year in office in October, political commentators credited her with moving the politics of government to the left. But they also noted that little had been accomplished, and called out Ardern for pulling her punches and making slow progress.
....and let's not forget that her government, a major shareholder in NZ airlines, instructed that airline to cap prices of tickets to NZ, so that relatives could afford to attend the funerals of their loved ones.....