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WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand Premier Jacinda Ardern shared the debut of a new family assistance program on her couch in a live video on Facebook where she saw her 10-day daughter, Neve, package of blankets.
Between parental jokes and policy explanations, she described the $ 5 billion package of tax cuts and payments as "the biggest change in the country's social protection system in decades." She said to the audience that if she looked tired, it was only because she was not wearing makeup.
The July video was just one example of what Mrs. Ardern was testing the scope of what she calls politics "with a little heart."
In many ways, including temperament, style and politics, Ms. Ardern is the opposite of President Trump and other male leaders.
She became a subject of worldwide fascination for her progressive values, her youth and charisma, and her status as a new mother who has attracted more attention than any other leader in this small Pacific country.
This week, with her partner and daughter, now 3 months old, she goes to New York. She will deliver New Zealand's statement to the United Nations on Thursday.
She also interviews the Today Show, Christiane Amanpour and Stephen Colbert. International media are fond of promoting it as a new type of unconventional leader of the 21st century – the single mother and the politician wore a traditional Maori cloak, during her pregnancy, at Buckingham Palace to meet the queen.
But even if her star goes abroad, Mrs. Ardern is increasingly facing difficulties at home. Businesses are interested in its program after business confidence in the country has fallen to its lowest level in 10 years in July; The confidence rating has since improved, according to new figures released this month, but it remains low.
Important policies, including tax reform, are still being decided, and critics have questioned Ms. Ardern's ability to maintain discipline within her governing coalition.
Experts say New Zealand illustrates the difficulty of putting together a progressive agenda at a time when politics is fractured and conservatives around the world are being encouraged. Mrs Ardern's supporters say she must push even harder for transformative change.
"Kindness and care gestures must sometimes go with more concrete and meaningful aspects of kindness in practice," said Max Harris, a member of Oxford's All Souls College and author ofThe New Zealand Project ", a new book on the country's politics. He added that the real success of Mrs. Ardern would require structural changes in the social and economic systems – and it remains to be seen whether Mrs. Ardern can make it happen.
"Jacindamania"
Ms. Ardern, 38, grew up in a small town in New Zealand, studied communication at the university, and joined the Labor Party at a very young age.
She spent her entire career in politics, working for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, then for Helen Clark, former premier of New Zealand, before entering Parliament in 2008.
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Ms. Clark has often described her protégé in glowing terms. In an interview last month, she predicted that Ms. Ardern's presence at the UN General Assembly would lead to a clamor of world leaders who want to be seen with her.
This week, images of Mrs. Ardern, the first head of government to take her baby to the United Nations, were published in newspapers and shared on social media around the world.
She also made headlines for refusing to sign a draft commitment on the fight against drugs that was presented Monday by Mr. Trump. Ms. Ardern said that she preferred to consider drug abuse not as a national security problem, but rather as a health issue focusing on the treatment of people in need.
"She has certainly found an agreement with the comments on kindness and she exposes it herself; you do not hear a mean word coming out of Jacinda's mouth, "said Ms. Clark. "She is really a kind, decent and kind person. But we also find that it develops in the office that it is firm. "
It is this last point that remains an open question – at least for some.
Mrs Ardern came to power last October. After nine years of center-right government in New Zealand, voters chose Ms. Ardern and her party because of their promise of a better deal for ordinary people, especially marginalized and vulnerable groups.
But his power is limited. In New Zealand, a party must not win an absolute majority in Parliament to govern. Labor has formed a coalition government with minor parties and in recent weeks, disputes between Mrs. Ardern's party and Winston Peters' party, the Deputy Prime Minister whose support has been crucial to her victory, have become more common. Ardern is not responsible for his own government.
In addition to compromising his reputation, two of his ministers were deported last month: one was accused of an altercation with one staff member and another failed to disclose meetings with stakeholders related to specific legislation.
Ms Ardern said that in both cases she acted decisively, but opponents accused her of being weak and not managing her team.
Opposition lawmakers have also criticized its tendency to appoint expert groups to explore dozens of topics, leaving vague details about its plans for major issues such as taxes.
"Government supporters are expecting significant changes, but I do not really know if it is a transformative government or not," said New Zealand political analyst Bryce Edwards. With all the panels, he added, "It's a bit like thinking that they're avoiding some of the tough issues, and giving them to the technocrats."
Yet in his first year, his government was busy. It approved an investment program in rural New Zealand; adopted housing affordability measures and tax credits for new parents and vulnerable families; and stopped new oil and gas drilling at sea.
One of his most common refrains is, "It's the right thing to do." She used this line this month to announce that New Zealand would accept an additional 500 refugees per year starting in 2020, bringing the quota to 1,500. The sentence also featured in her speeches announcing policies to freeze wages. legislators and increase paid parental leave.
In an interview last month, she argued that values and government go hand in hand. "You can be pragmatic, develop an economy and improve your well-being and do everything you want from governments, but do it with a little heart," she said.
But some New Zealanders, including local journalists, are also wondering if his moralism is helping him to avoid control.
"It's going to run out if it's used too much," said Edwards. "It can be used opportunistically, to justify something where you do not have to provide evidence or evidence that it's a good decision."
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Politics and parenthood
After Benazir Bhutto in 1990, Ms. Ardern is only the second world leader in modern times to give birth during her term.
Her status as both prime minister and mother has sparked an international conversation about the role of working women, and one feels that she and the rest of New Zealand are still exploring the limits of what that means.
In August, a television channel posted a clip of Mrs. Ardern breastfeeding at the bottom of an event, and then deleted it after being flooded with complaints from the public.
Recently, media commentators have criticized the cost of her decision to go to the Pacific Islands Forum for a single day, and then return to her home to deny herself because her daughter had not been vaccinated yet.
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In person, she seems indifferent to criticism. She is an accomplished media performer, quick to respond to opponents, but cautious in interviews. His partner, Clarke Gayford, host of a television show on television, said he learned a lot about adapting to international attention.
"It's funny to see that things have happened and that your life is becoming more public," he said in an interview at his family home last month. "You end up keeping some things to create a little, it's not like protection – everything is picked up and separated."
Mrs Ardern sees her mission as global. She is a strong supporter of multilateralism, and while New Zealand is a small country accustomed to not being "the most powerful voice in the room," she said, "power comes in many forms now. ".
And, she added, it is not only New Zealand that could benefit from greater inspiration and less fear.
"To maintain the strength of democracy, people must believe in it and they must believe in politicians," she said before leaving for the UN General Assembly.
"This idea that power can not be accompanied by notions of compassion, kindness and empathy," she added. "It's something I refuse to accept."
