My NZ colleagues seem pleased as punch about this. And one could argue that government leaders have been temporarily impacted by major medical issues before this, such as President Reagan’s two-week hospitalization and two-month recuperation following his shooting by a would-be assassin, so having a baby should not be a disqualification for serving in office. But is there anybody arguing that it ought to be? Kiwi Dopers, what’s the word on the street?
*Okay, I guess technically Queen Elizabeth II of the UK is a modern head of state who’s given birth while in office, and probably some other reigning queens as well, but one could argue that for a hereditary monarch giving birth is actually part of the job; not so much for a Prime Minister.
Gender equality is fine. But I don’t think anyone is going to claim that a man and a woman bear an equal share in the physical involvement in a pregnancy.
She’s a head of government, not a head of state. I don’t see how this is going to have any political ramifications or repercussions or any effect at all unless some grave national crisis require her immediate attention (like Australia launching airstrikes) just happens to occur while she’s actually in labor. She might have to cut back on international travel for a few months though.
Most of a head of government’s job duties are meetings and paperwork. I suppose if she ended up on strict bed rest it could affect her ability to take meetings, (giving me the chance to use the term en chambre) but even then she could still make phone calls, read reports, sign legislation, etc.
I’m quite sure there’s a deputy PM for those few hours she’s definitely incapacitated.
As noted above, having Winston Peters as acting PM for any extended period will be interesting. He’s always struck me as been more an opportunist outsider than somebody who wears the big hat comfortably.
Granted it’s not particularly likely but that wouldn’t cause much more damage than has already been inflicted on our various rugby teams for the past few months.
Gruen: Lets Invade New Zealand
Benezir* did in 1990, which is modern AFAIK, although frankly not surprised that you did not know this. And PM is head of Government, not Head of State.
*She also gave birth in 1988 and 1993 as Opposition leader and would win elections is each of those years.
Not a Head of Government, but Hina Rabbani Khar gave the Budget Statement as Finance Minister when heavily pregnant.
Not that I disagree with your overall point, but it must be pretty rare for a male leader to have more children while in office too, given that most heads of state/government tend to be in their 40s and 50s - kind of over the hump of the bell curve for having kids.
The first female Minister of Defense of Spain, Carme Chacón, undertook several state trips while pregnant, including one to Afghanistan. She had previously been Minister of Housing.
