Last full week in PM’s role full of challenges
AUCKLAND: Yesterday was Jacinda Ardern’s official due date, but for now she remains as Prime Minister.
In response to intense media interest, political staff are trying to plan for an event everyone knows is impossible to predict: the time and circumstances of a child’s birth.
Ms Ardern will stay in Auckland, not wanting to ‘‘tempt fate’’ by flying to and from the capital. However, she will not formally hand over to her deputy and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters until she arrives at Auckland Hospital.
So there may be a ‘‘hybrid’’ handover period until the baby is born — Ms Ardern will retain the authority and position of PM, but Mr Peters will carry out her parliamentary and media commitments, including chairing Cabinet today.
Her last full week as PM was not without its challenges, including Mr Peters’ lawsuit against some public servants and former National ministers.
Mr Peters views this as an action of a private citizen after details about his superannuation payment were leaked during last year’s election campaign, but the possibility he will have to excuse himself from Cabinet if the matter comes up shows the difficulties of trying to separate the personal from the political.
That is aside from just the look of having the man about to take over as prime minister launching such a politically sensitive case.
The theories were flying about the machinations that led to that backdown — a public demonstration of the difficulties of coalition government.
From the start, the three Government parties saw merit in thrashing out difficult issues in private so they could present potentially a compromised policy, but one that would have the numbers. That clearly did not happen this time.
Parliament was abuzz with speculation about whether New Zealand First had shafted Justice Minister Andrew Little or whether he had misunderstood the party’s support for broader criminal reforms as including the three strikes repeal.
LabourturnedNew Zealand First MP Shane Jones skates closer to the line than many MPs would dare, relying on his eloquence and wit to see him through.
He is now playing the line between whipping up grassroots support with his attack against Fonterra and being a constructive minister who makes the PM look good.
Mr Jones had already been told by the Prime Minister to temper his language when talking about New Zealand businesses.
The result was Ms Ardern faced questions throughout the week about the strength of the relationship between the two parties at such a critical time.
For now though, the due date may come and go, while the machinery of government rumbles on. — RNZ