New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern surprisingly announced her resignation on Thursday. Image: Getty Images AsiaPac / Kerry Marshall
International
Jacinda Ardern can’t take it anymore. “The tank is empty,” said New Zealand’s Prime Minister on Thursday with tears. Ardern will resign in two and a half weeks, and the Labor Party wants to decide on her successor on Sunday.
Ardern, who was elected the world’s youngest prime minister in 2017 at the age of 37, surprised many with her resignation announcement. The social democrat was firmly in the saddle and was very popular due to her successful crisis management and her likeable nature.
Jacinda Ardern maneuvered New Zealand well through the corona pandemic, the country recorded relatively few Covid deaths (2,437). Image: NZ HERALD/AP / Mark Mitchell
The way Ardern left office – voluntarily and for reasons of mental health – is atypical for a politician’s resignation. Most rulers stumble over scandals and then cling to their posts until even the last support has crumbled.
Not only in politics, also in Sports and in other areas this pattern can be seen. Now and then there are resignations that – like Ardern’s farewell – fall out of line. A look at the recent past shows just how varied resignations can be.
Liz Truss resigns in record time
After just six weeks in office, British Prime Minister Liz Truss is in office autumn resigned in 2022. she had caused chaos on the financial markets with ambitious tax cut plans. Even the subsequent about-face could not save her political reputation. After her own cabinet turned against her, the conservative politician was forced to resign.
Boris Johnson – the sum of all scandals
Truss’s predecessor, Boris Johnson, falls into the category of those who clung to office with all their might. But after numerous scandals, the eccentric prime minister also had to vacate his post in July 2022. Because of illegal lockdown parties during the pandemic he was criticized for months.
The last straw was an affair involving Johnson’s party colleague Chris Pincher, who is accused of sexual harassment. Although Johnson knew about the allegations, he heaved Pincher into a key faction office.
Boris Johnson had long denied his wrongdoing, and his political decline dragged on for months. Image: AP / Matt Dunham
Sebastian Kurz – exit with a bang
This news hit like a bomb in October 2021: the Austrian public prosecutor determined against Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on suspicion of infidelity, corruption and bribery. Kurz and his helpers are suspected of having bought positive reporting and embellished bogus polls for Kurz’s ÖVP party with tax money. The Chancellor resigned a little later.
The investigations into Chancellor Sebastian Kurz have revealed deep-seated abuses in Austrian politics. Image: AP / Darko Vojinovic
Oliver Bierhoff – the pawn sacrifice?
With DFB managing director Oliver Bierhoff, who left his job after the World Cup preliminary round National team in December 2022, the situation looked different again. “I’m paving the way for setting new directions,” Bierhoff explained his resignation after 18 years with the DFB.
What none of the officials wanted to say, but was clear to many observers: Bierhoff had to go because the DFB urgently needed to send a sign of realignment. After all, the mood around the national team is worse than it has been for a long time. A successor for the ousted managing director has not yet been determined.
Sebastian Vettel – the bad conscience
A few weeks before Bierhoff, Sebastian Vettel, one of the greatest German racing drivers of all time, had said goodbye. The four-time Formula 1 world champion revealed the reasons for this in a thoughtful social media video: He wants to spend more time with his family in the future and his children see grow up. In addition, his job as a racing driver jetting around the world can no longer be reconciled with his ambitions as a climate activist.
Max Eberl – the exhausted functionary
About a year ago it was Borussia Mönchengladbach’s then sports director Max Eberl who told the German Soccer held up the mirror. In tears, he spoke about the mental stress he was exposed to as a football official and which ultimately caused him to collapse. “What is done in 24 hours, what is spoken and speculated, that is what makes me sick,” revealed Eberl.
Max Eberl was overwhelmed by emotions when he announced his resignation.Image: Borussia Mönchengladbach / Christian Verheyen
Tom Brady – the resignation of the resignation
NFL superstar Tom Brady has shown that resignation does not have to be permanent. The most successful footballer of all time, with seven Super Bowl victories, only lasted a month and a half before he announced his return to the field in March 2022. “I realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands,” Brady wrote Instagram. The time for the final retreat will come: “But it’s not that far now.”
Megxit – the unprecedented mud fight
The royal withdrawal of Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan again shows what a resignation can entail. Since the couple seceded from the British royal family in January 2020, they have had a real mud fight with the royal family. Harry and Meghan throw some of the royals exclusion, discrimination and racism Before. The family drama is fueled by the British tabloid press, which finds new material for trench warfare every day.
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan do not have an easy time in the British royal family.Image: Pool AP / Martin Meissner
What is currently happening in the US House of Representatives is a veritable spectacle of the century: Republican candidate Kevin McCarthy failed to be elected Speaker of the House in the eleventh ballot. The reason for this lies in our own ranks: Around 20 Republican lawmakers are refusing to vote for him. Who are they, who leads them, what do they want?
