Prime Minister of New Zealand

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis announced adjustments to the Cabinet on Monday following the resignation of two ministers last week - Minister of State Stavros Papastavrou and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Yiannis Bratakos.

A gunman killed two people and wounded six others at a building site in central Auckland Thursday, hours before New Zealand's biggest city was to host the opening match of the 2023 FIFA football World Cup.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the gunman died at the scene and there was no national security threat, so the marquee tournament would go ahead as planned.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov will personally monitor the activities of 13 departments, and Deputy Prime Minister Maria Gabriel - 4, announced the government press service.

The Prime Minister will monitor the activities of several agencies, including Intelligence and National Security, the National Statistical Institute and the Patent Office.

The new cabinet will be officially sworn in before President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and the newly-appointed caretaker Prime Minister Ioannis Sarmas at 12 p.m. on Friday. 

After the swearing-in ceremony, Sarmas will preside over a cabinet meeting at the Maximos Mansion.

Hundreds gathered to applaud Jacinda Ardern as she left New Zealand's parliament to resign as prime minister on Wednesday, before Chris Hipkins was swiftly sworn in as her replacement.

Ardern said last week she no longer had "enough in the tank" after steering the country through natural disasters, its worst-ever terror attack and the Covid-19 pandemic.

New Zealand's incoming prime minister Chris Hipkins criticised the "abhorrent" treatment endured by Jacinda Ardern and vowed on Sunday to shield his own family, three days after her shock resignation.

The decision by the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, to step down from office does not just signal a rare moment of humanity in politics, it is also a paradigm of democratic culture.

By making the decision she made, Jacinda Ardern showed that the relationship of political representatives with their office should never be allowed to become anything more than a "job."

Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation sparked a push on Friday for New Zealand to choose its first Maori prime minister, as a small pack of candidates emerged for the top job.

Ardern, a global figurehead for progressive politics, stunned New Zealand on Thursday by announcing her abrupt exit from office, less than three years after securing a second term in a landslide election win.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, whose empathetic handling of the nation's worst mass-shooting and health-driven response to the coronavirus pandemic led her to become an international icon but who faced mounting criticism at home, said Thursday she was leaving office.

Fighting back tears, Ardern told reporters in Napier that Feb. 7 would be her last day as prime minister.

His long-term political career without a blemish made him a candidate for the post of prime minister. It was crucial that the leaders of all the parties, the winners of the elections on August 30, 2020, agree on him as the prime minister-designate.