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New Zealand: Elections postponed for a month due to the re-expansion of the corona

In the shadow of the closure imposed on Auckland, the country's largest city, Prime Minister Arden announced that elections would be held on October 17. This is after pressure from other parties, happy about the difficulty of campaigning. The Labor leader leads the polls. "We're all in the same boat"

• New Zealand
• Jessinda Arden
• Corona virus

Reuters

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden announced tonight (Monday) that the general election has been postponed for a month, due to the continued closure of Auckland as a result of a re-spread of the corona virus. Ardren succumbed to pressure from several other parties, who were happy that they could not campaign in New Zealand's largest city, home to about a third of the country's five million citizens.

"Ultimately, October 17 will give parties enough time to prepare under the circumstances of the campaign," she said at a news conference. She ruled out the possibility of postponing the election even further. According to the polls, the Labor Party, led by her, maintains a large advantage over its conservative nationalist rivals. "We're all in the same boat. We're all campaigning under the same conditions."

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Nine new cases were diagnosed yesterday, and there are a total of 78 active cases in the country. To date, 1,280 diagnoses and 22 deaths have been recorded in the country.

The timely holding of the election was a game in Arden's favor, thanks to her success in the fight against the virus that lasted up to 102 days without a new case, until the last outbreak. The law requires that elections not be held later than November 21, and early voting will begin on October 3.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, who called for a postponement of the election, said "common sense has won".