" I don't have enough energy to continue ."

Thus the New Zealand premier Jacinda Arden surprisingly announced her resignation just nine months after the elections which confirmed her at the helm of the country for a second term.

«I am human – she said visibly moved and in tears -. We give all we can and for as long as we can, then it's time. And for me that moment has come. I don't have enough energy for another four years .'

Arden is due to step down on February 7. Aged 42, she became prime minister in a coalition government in 2017, before leading the Labor Party to a landslide victory in the following election .

During his tenure he faced the pandemic, a deadly volcanic eruption and the worst attack ever in the country, the killing of 51 Muslim worshipers in a mosque by a white supremacist .

Hugely popular abroad, he has long enjoyed record approval ratings in New Zealand as well, but has recently seen party and personal popularity wane as the economy deteriorates.

(Unioneonline/L)

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