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Karl Stefanovic has dared to ask the question that is on everyone’s lips after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced her surprise resignation.
The Today Show presenter asked former New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters if Ms Ardern had decided to jump before she was pushed.
Do you think maybe she left before she was hit? Stefanovic asked.
“You’ve said it in a way that was certainly a version, that’s very likely the case,” he said.
Peters said it was likely Ardern would have done the math and “walked in” after realizing he would potentially lose the 2023 election.
“Some people do… a previous prime minister did a calculation: it was 60/40 that he couldn’t win, so he just walked away,” he said.
“A lot of statements are going to be made now in the heat of this moment, but the question is whether it’s a fact or not.”
Former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters (right) said it was “very likely” Ms Ardern had done the math and “walked” after realizing she would potentially lose the 2023 election.
Stefanovic’s co-host, Sarah Abo, asked if the resignation had come as a surprise.
“I think it was a huge surprise to New Zealanders and international audiences, if you will, but not to some of us,” Peters said.
“I think it was very predictable. The second phase of her post-2020 prime ministerial term hasn’t been good and the polls are doing pretty poorly, and it was all a blip, so it’s not a surprise.”
Ardern told reporters she simply did not have “enough in the tank” for another four years as prime minister despite having time off over the summer.
Peters said those energy reserves were related to the level of confidence a politician had in the run-up to an election.
In an emotional news conference on Thursday, the outgoing prime minister acknowledged that she may not be the right person to lead the Labor Party, but said she would not resign for fear of losing the election.
In an emotional news conference on Thursday, Ardern acknowledged that he might not be the right person to lead the Labor Party.
“Having such a privileged role comes responsibility, including the responsibility of knowing when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not,” he said.
“I have given my all to be prime minister, but it has also cost me a lot. You can’t and shouldn’t get the job done unless you have a full tank plus a little in reserve for those unplanned and unexpected challenges that inevitably present themselves.
“Having reflected over the summer, I know I no longer have that little bit more in the tank to do the job justice. It’s that easy.’
Ardern said he was confident that the Labor Party would still win the election.
“I’m not leaving because I think we can’t win the election, but because I think Labor can and will win it,” he told reporters.
‘We need a new set of shoulders for the challenges of this year and the next three. As for my time at work, I hope to leave New Zealanders with the belief that they can be kind yet strong, empathetic yet decisive, optimistic yet focused.
“And that you can be your own kind of leader, one who knows when it’s time to go.”
Ms Ardern, 42, steps down after just over five years as leader, having become New Zealand’s youngest prime minister (pictured with partner Clarke Gayford and daughter Neve)
Ms Ardern, 42, steps down after just over five years as leader, having become New Zealand’s youngest prime minister and leading the country through the Covid pandemic and Christchurch mosque shooting in 2019.
The Labor Party, which has been in power since 2017, lost its consistent lead in the polls early last year and the opposition National Party’s vote began to rise in late 2021.
Ms Ardern faced unrelenting criticism from some sections of the public for implementing some of the toughest Covid restrictions in the world.
The rules included lockdowns where New Zealanders couldn’t even buy takeaway food and a border closure that lasted for more than two years.
However, the leader has insisted that the constant attacks, which continued last year as the economy faltered and the cost of living rose, did not influence her decision to step down.