Wellington – The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Arden, has postponed the country’s general elections by a month amid spike in coronavirus cases.
Elections were set to take place on 19 September but will now be held on 17 October instead.
Arden said on Monday that the new date would allow parties “to plan around the range of circumstances we will be campaigning under”.
Earlier last week, the country’s biggest city went back into lockdown.
“This decision gives all parties time over the next nine weeks to campaign and the Electoral Commission enough time to ensure an election can go ahead,” said Arden, adding that she had “absolutely no intention” of allowing any further delays to the vote.
The opposition National Party has argued the election should be delayed as restrictions on campaigning mean Arden had an unfair advantage.
Auckland was forced to impose restrictions on Wednesday after a number of new infections were identified in the city.
Nine new coronavirus cases were confirmed on Monday, bringing the number of active cases linked to the Auckland cluster to 58.
