42-year-old Jacinda Ardern, who has been the Prime Minister of New Zealand since 2017, suddenly announced her resignation last week. When the general election is going to be held in New Zealand on October 14, his announcement shook the country’s political scene.
With 10 months left for the election, why did Jacinda, who was seen as the world’s youngest female prime minister and an international icon, suddenly step down and who would be appointed as the interim prime minister? Jacinda’s influence in New Zealand is said to be the reason for her resignation. However, she was hailed by many as a woman leader who overcame many critical situations during the outbreak of the Corona virus. In 2019, more than fifty people were killed in a shooting incident at two mosques in Christchurch. Jacinda Ardern led her country unflinchingly during that time. And when she gave birth to a baby girl the year after she took office, she became the second world leader to give birth to a child in office. Further,
On the other hand, the Congress party welcomed the announcement of Jacinda Ardern’s resignation as the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Regarding this, Congress Party spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said, ‘people like him are most needed in Indian politics’. New Zealand’s Minister of Education and Police, Chris Hipkins, has been chosen as interim Prime Minister following Jacinda’s resignation.
New Zealand has the highest number of female leaders since 1946. According to the statistics of the Council on Foreign Relations, 125 of the 193 countries in the world have never had a female leader. Furthermore, the statistics show that 68 countries have had at least one female head of state, while on the other hand, only 27 of the 193 countries currently have women as heads of government.
For India, Indira Gandhi served as Prime Minister from 24 January 1966 to 24 April 1977. After that he held office again from 15 January 1980 to 31 October 1984, i.e. till his death. Another distinction for Indira Gandhi is that she is the only female leader to serve as the longest serving Prime Minister of India after her father and the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
After that, Pratibha Patil served as the country’s first woman President from 25 July 2007 to 25 July 2012. After her, Draupadi Murmu was sworn in as India’s second woman President on July 25 last year. He is the 15th President of India.
By far the countries with the most female leaders in the world are Switzerland, Iceland and Finland. Starting with the late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, Vasanthara Raji, Mayawati, Uma Bharati, Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit, more than 15 women have served as the chief minister of the state. It is noteworthy that, at present West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the only woman Chief Minister of the country.
