ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has felicitated his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern on her “extraordinary victory” in the country’s general elections.
On a social media website Twitter, PM Imran said, “Warmest congratulations to @jacindaarden on her impressive victory in #NZelections2020.”
He further said Arden’s compassionate leadership style has not only impressed the people of his own country but also “won hearts” in Pakistan. “Looking forward to expanding cooperation and further strengthening bonds of friendship between the two countries,” he added.
Warmest congratulations to @jacindaardern on her impressive victory in #NZelections2020. Her compassionate style of leadership has won hearts not just in NZ but in Pakistan too. Looking forward to expanding cooperation and further strengthening bonds of friendship between ????????&????????
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 17, 2020
PM Ardern has delivered the biggest election victory for her center-left Labour Party in half a century as voters rewarded her for a decisive response to coronavirus.
According to reports, Labour was on track to win 64 of the 120 seats in the country’s unicameral parliament, the highest by any party since New Zealand adopted a proportional voting system in 1996.
“This is a historic shift,” said political commentator Bryce Edwards of Victoria University in Wellington, describing the vote as one of the biggest swings in New Zealand’s electoral history in 80 years.
Labour had 49.0 per cent of the votes, far ahead of National at 27pc, the Electoral Commission said, with 77pc of ballots counted in an election that was largely a referendum on Ardern’s aggressive handling of coronavirus.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson, a top Labour MP said, “People were very grateful and very happy with how we’ve handled Covid, they like the shape of the plan that we’ve got going forward from here for the economy.”
Geoffrey Miller, an analyst at political website Democracy Project, said the victory was “very much a personal triumph for Jacinda Ardern’s ‘superstar’ popularity and brand.”
