Jacinda Ardern has announced that the New Zealand election will be delayed by a month due to the newly re-instated lockdown.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that the country’s election will be delayed by four weeks due to fears surrounding a spike in coronavirus cases, as well as the impacts of the recently resumed lockdown.
It comes after New Zealand recently detected four infections, following more than one hundred days without any new cases.
Speaking in an announcement today, Ardern revealed that she would be changing the election from its original date of September 19 to a new date of October 17.
Last week, New Zealand was plunged back into lockdown after the discovery of four new cases, following 102 days without any new infections.
Per the Prime Minister's announcement, the date of the election has moved to Saturday, 17 October. The House will sit tomorrow, Tuesday, 18 August and the dissolution will now take place on Sunday, 6 September. Visit our website for updates: https://t.co/xbu2V2l4FW #nzpol
— NZ Parliament (@NZParliament) August 16, 2020
Ardern revealed that the decision to change the date was in order for the parties to adapt to the new lockdown conditions that they will be campaigning under.
“I do want to give an assurance that I do not intend to change the election date again,” Ardern described.
“I want to ensure we have a well-run election that gives all voters the best chance to receive all the information they need about parties and candidates and delivers certainty for the future.”
According to the BBC, the decision was pushed by the opposition who argued that restrictions on campaigning had resulted in Ardern having an unfair advantage.
#nzpol .Just for our international tweeters that think Jacinda Ardern is some kind of dictator, for delaying the election. It was the Leader of the opposition and the 2 other major political parties that demanded it be delayed, and in the interest of fairness she agreed.
Thats it— Andre Delamare 🇳🇿🇺🇦🌊 (@delanightmares) August 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/TheReal_JesusC/status/1292970400759111680
