Swearing Jacinda

While New Zealand’s Prime Minister Swearing Jacinda Ardern is universally recognised for her humane qualities and is applauded widely for her outlook and efforts for betterment of inter-communal relations yet she is also human. In a recent parliamentary debate she took issue when the leader of an opposition party asked her to give an example of an occasion when she had made a mistake, apologised and fixed it. The prime minister gave an impassioned, detailed response then as she sat down muttered “such an arrogant pr**k” which was picked up by the microphones in parliament. David Seymour, leader of New Zealand’s ACT party, objected to the remark lobbed in his direction and petitioned the speaker of the House of Representatives to have it withdrawn. The 42-year-old Jacinda Ardern has been prime minister for five years and has enjoyed sky-high approval ratings for most of her two-term tenure but with New Zealand expected to go to the polls in late 2023 and the cost of living skyrocketing, she is under increasing political pressure. Support for her Labour party appears to be waning with the latest opinion polls showing them trailing the opposition party by five percentage points. Resultantly, she cracked but later apologised for her indiscretion. TW

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