Chris Hipkins was sworn in Wednesday as New Zealand’s new prime minister, formally completing the transfer of power from Jacinda Ardern, who officially resigned moments earlier.
After accepting the resignation of the now former prime minister, Governor General Dame Cindy held a ceremony to appoint Chris Hipkins as the country’s new leader and Hon Carmel Sepuloni as the new deputy prime minister.
At the ceremony, Hipkins was also appointed as Minister of National Security and Intelligence, the governor general’s office said in a statement.
The new New Zealand leader described the position as «the greatest responsibility» of his life during the investiture ceremony, which was held at Government House, as reported by ‘NZ Herald’.
The ceremony took place moments after Jacinda Ardern officially resigned as Prime Minister of New Zealand, when she presented her resignation to the country’s Governor General.
After that, she left the New Zealand Government House for the last time, where she was greeted by a crowd of people waiting for her outside, including cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, staff and spectators, whom she greeted emotionally.
Last week, the now former prime minister made a surprise announcement of her resignation to lead the country and the Labor Party, acknowledging that she no longer had the strength to carry out such undertakings. She became the world’s youngest prime minister when she was elected at the age of 37 in 2017.
Under her tenure she dealt with the Christchurch mosque shooting, in which 15 people were killed and half a hundred injured, and after her re-election she guided New Zealand through the pandemic, managing to become one of the first countries free of coronavirus cases, while the rest of the world remained locked in.
He now faces the challenge of reviving his party’s falling popularity ahead of the general election, which will take place next October.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
