Chris Hipkins to be New Zealand's next prime minister
Wellington (AP): Education Minister Chris Hipkins is set to become New Zealand's next prime minister after he was the only candidate to enter the contest Saturday to replace Jacinda Ardern.
Hipkins, 44, must still garner an endorsement Sunday from his Labour Party colleagues in Parliament but that is just a formality now.
Ardern shocked the nation of 5 million people on Thursday when she announced she was resigning after five-and-a-half years in the top role.
The lack of other candidates indicated party lawmakers had rallied behind Hipkins to avoid a drawn-out contest and any sign of disunity following Ardern's departure.
Hipkins will have less than eight months in the role before contesting a general election. Opinion polls have indicated that Labour is trailing the main opponent, the conservative National Party.
Hipkins rose to public prominence during the coronavirus pandemic, when he took on a kind of crisis management role. But he and other liberals have long been in the shadow of Ardern, who became a global icon of the left and exemplified a new style of leadership.
Just 37 when she became leader, Ardern was praised around the world for her handling of the nation's worst-ever mass shooting and the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But she faced mounting political pressures at home and a level of vitriol from some that previous New Zealand leaders hadn't faced. Online, she was subject to physical threats and misogynistic rants.
"Our society could now usefully reflect on whether it wants to continue to tolerate the excessive polarisation which is making politics an increasingly unattractive calling," wrote former prime minister Helen Clark.
Fighting back tears, Ardern told reporters on Thursday that she was leaving the position no later than February 7.
"I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple," she said.
Besides holding the education portfolio, Hipkins is also minister for police and the public service, and leader of the House. He is known as a political troubleshooter who has taken on a variety of roles to try to iron out problems created by other lawmakers.
But he's also committed some gaffes of his own, like when he told people during a virus lockdown that they could go outside and "spread their legs", a comment that drew plenty of mirth on the internet.
A lawmaker for 15 years, Hipkins is considered more centrist than Ardern and colleagues hope that he will appeal to a broad range of voters.
Among his biggest challenges during an election year will be convincing voters that his party is managing the economy well.
New Zealand's unemployment rate is relatively low at 3.3 per cent, but inflation is high at 7.2 per cent. New Zealand's Reserve Bank has hiked the benchmark interest rate to 4.25 per cent as it tries to get inflation under control, and some economists are predicting the country will go into recession this year.
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Situation calm but tense in Manipur, curfew remains imposed, internet suspended
Imphal (PTI): The situation remained calm but tense in Manipur's Imphal Valley, where an indefinite curfew has been imposed and internet services suspended following violent protests after the discovery of the bodies of six persons, three women and children each, allegedly abducted and killed by militants in Jiribam.
The six persons were missing from a camp for the displaced in Jiribam since Monday following a gunfight between militants and security forces that led to the deaths of 10 insurgents.
The bodies of the two women and a child were recovered from Barak River in Jiribam on Saturday, while three other bodies, including those of a woman and two children, were found on Friday night.
Piles of debris remained on the roads of state capital Imphal on Sunday morning, a day after protestors staged violent protests over the deaths, attacking the residences of three state ministers and six MLAs.
Agitators ransacked the houses of three legislators, including that of Chief Minister N Biren Singh's son-in-law R K Imo, who is also a BJP MLA, and set their properties on fire while security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse protesters in different parts of Imphal, police said.
Among the ministers whose residences were stormed by the protesters are Sapam Ranjan, L Susindro Singh and Y Khemchand, an official said.
Curfew was imposed for an indefinite period in Imphal East and West, Bishnupur, Thoubal and Kakching districts of Imphal valley "due to developing law and order situation", he said.
The state administration suspended internet services temporarily in seven districts in the wake of protesters storming the residences of state ministers and MLAs, another official said.
Besides Imo, agitators also vandalised the properties of BJP legislator Sapam Kunjakesore and MLA Joykishan Singh.
They also gheraoed the houses of JD(U) MLA of Wangkhei seat, T Arun, and BJP legislator Karam Shyam of Langthabal.
Protesters, who had come to meet Keishamthong's Independent legislator Sapam Nishikanta Singh at his residence on Tiddim Road in Imphal West, targeted the office building of a local newspaper owned by him after they were informed that the legislator was not present in the state. The mob destroyed some temporary structures in front of the office building, another official said.
Agitators also set tyres on fire in the middle of a road in Thangmeiband area, just 200 metres away from the assembly building.
At Keisampat Bridge, tear gas shells were fired to disperse protesters who were attempting to march towards several buildings, including Raj Bhavan, and the secretariat, police said.
Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi ordered temporary suspension of internet and mobile data services in the "territorial jurisdiction of currently affected districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching, Kangpokpi and Churachandpur for two days with effect from 5.15 pm on Saturday.
The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an apex body representing civil society organisations of Imphal Valley, demanded military action on militants within 24 hours.
At night, miscreants set fire to at least two churches and three houses in Jiribam town, officials said.
"There have been reports of further arson and the burning of additional structures by miscreants, but these claims have not yet been independently verified," officials told PTI.
COCOMI spokesperson K Athouba called for the immediate repeal of AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act), which was recently re-imposed in areas under six police stations.
The bodies of the 10 Kuki-Zo youths killed in a gunfight with security personnel in Jiribam were on Saturday airlifted to Churachandpur from Assam's Silchar town, where the autopsies were conducted.
