Asia in 2017: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

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‍As 2017 comes to an end, “Asia Today” presents a seven-day year-end special program called “Asian Faces of 2017.”

From Dec. 24 to 30, we will review the seven most influential figures in Asia and examine how their highs and lows, and their hits and misses, have impacted their country, the region and the world.

The victory came as a surprise. Jacinda Ardern became New Zealand's prime minister after a minority party chose her, instead of former prime minister Bill English, to form a coalition government.

Just eight weeks before the election, Ardern, who served as deputy of the Labour Party, was unanimously elected to the leadership after Andrew Little decided to step down.

“She is a shining star in the political landscape of New Zealand,” said Dr. Teng Jianqun from the China Institute of International Studies.

In less than three months, Ardern rose from Labour Party leader to the top leader of New Zealand.

At 37, she also became the world’s youngest female leader.

'Jacinda-mania'

No one can deny her popularity, especially among young Kiwis. Her party’s projected share of the vote has risen from 26 percent to 43 percent since Ardern became the party’s leader.

The media has even dubbed the strong Labour support as “Jacinda-mania."

Domestic agenda

Before becoming prime minster, Ardern pledged to tackle social issues such as child poverty and affordable housing. She also vowed to address climate change, reduce immigration and increase the intake of refugees.

Not long after taking office, she announced New Zealand would ban foreign buyers from purchasing homes in a bid to cool soaring property prices, as a housing affordability crisis left home ownership out of reach for many New Zealanders.

Arden also reiterated that the new government would stick to Labour's policy on immigration, which promised to reduce net migration by 20,000 to 30,000 a year.

As for climate change, the new government has a plan to reach zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Ardern also offered to take 150 refugees who were detained in Australian-run camps on Manus Island and Nauru. New Zealand currently accepts 750 refugees every year. The new government pledged to double that number in the next three years.

Is Ardern doing a good job?

“It is hard for us to evaluate the performance of the prime minister now because you cannot give any predictable anticipation for the prime minister who has been in office for just two months," said Teng, “She has a long way to go as to consolidate power and to have clear-cut explanation of her policy to the outside world.”

Teng maintained Jacinda Ardern would have to make compromises with other parties in her coalition government to push forward her domestic agenda.