Jacinda Ardern explained her decision to step down as New Zealand¡¯s prime minister Thursday with a plea for understanding and rare political directness ¡ª the same attributes that helped make her a global emblem of anti-Trump liberalism, then a target of the toxic divisions amplified by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ardern, 42, fought back tears as she announced at a news conference that she would resign in early February before New Zealand¡¯s election in October.
¡°I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice,¡± she said. ¡°It is that simple.¡±
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