Darla Bedenko
SputnikSun, 16 Aug 2020 22:23 UTC
© Getty ImagesNew Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern
The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, announced that
the election in the country had been moved to 17 October, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and noted that she would not again change the date.
Jacinda Ardern said during a Sunday press conference that there is no suggestion that
New Zealand would lift the coronavirus-caused restrictions until 19 September, the initial election date. She noted that the
"participation of voters, ensuring a fair election and certainty that the election is held in a timely way, are all key considerations.
"The Electoral Commission have actually prepared for a range of circumstances including since April, holding the election at level 2. I do think it's a decision that needs to stick and the changes should not be made again", Ardern asserted, saying that "COVID is the world's new normal".
According to Ardern, once the parliament has dissolved, if the Electoral Commission believes
they cannot hold a safe election, they have the power to move the date of the election.
There are currently 1,622
registered COVID-19 cases in New Zealand, with 22 related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Comment: New Zealand has negligible cases and infinitesimal small number of deaths attributed to COVID-19. It's recent return to lockdown and postponement of the election suggest a gross over-reaction on the part of its leadership to take caution to unrealistic limits at the (real) expense and health of the people.
The PM's decision comes after a 102-day lapse of virus transmission:
Since the first new cases were detected on Tuesday, the Auckland cluster has grown to 58 cases. Of the nine new cases, seven are confirmed to be linked to the cluster. The total number of active cases in the country is 78, with five people now in hospital. There have now been a total of 1280 cases and 22 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The NZ Electoral Commission had been planning for an election being held under a stage-two lockdown - which limits gathering to 100 people - since April.
Ardern played down the pressure brought to bear by her coalition partner, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, who on Sunday called for the poll to be delayed.
The main opposition National party and the ACT party had also called for the delay. Ardern's other coalition partners, the Greens, had not supported a delay but have now backed the Prime Minister's decision.
National's leader Judith Collins said:
"It was always National's view that to have a fair, democratic election we needed to deal with this second wave of COVID-19 so politicians from all parties had a reasonable chance to present their policies, and the public felt comfortable engaging with the campaign without putting their health at risk".
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield has previously suggested a possible link between the Auckland outbreak, which appears to have begun at an Americold food storage facility in Mt Wellington, and an Americold facility in Melbourne that was linked to four Victorian cases. "We still don't have any particular clues as to what the origin of the outbreak is."
Ardern's government on Monday also extended its wage subsidy scheme, at a cost of about $NZ510 million ($464 million) to protect 470,000 jobs, and mortgage deferral program.
And, on came the 'apples to oranges' Ardern-Trump comparisons:
Online pundits have quickly drawn parallels between the situation in the two countries, arguing that people should hold Ardern to the same standards as Trump, when he was labeled a "dictator" and "fascist" for toying with the idea.
See also:
Comment: New Zealand has negligible cases and infinitesimal small number of deaths attributed to COVID-19. It's recent return to lockdown and postponement of the election suggest a gross over-reaction on the part of its leadership to take caution to unrealistic limits at the (real) expense and health of the people. And, on came the 'apples to oranges' Ardern-Trump comparisons: See also: