The Indian Weekender, Friday 03 July 2020

2 NEW ZEALAND
Friday, July 3, 2020 The Indian Weekender
HEALTH MINISTER RES
finally chooses to play by
SANDEEP SINGH
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government - in
accepting the resignation of embattled Health Minister
Dr David Clark – has finally chosen to play by the
“playbook” of a Ministerial responsibility under a Westminster
model of parliamentary democracy.
This brings hope that finally the government, which to
be fair, is hugely occupied in managing a once-in-hundred
years crisis – will eventually choose to return to following
the playbook – an expectation from any modern, liberal
democracy, in other domains of decision making.
For quite some time, the Prime Minister and Ministers in
the government and MPs outside the government have been
seeking to avoid criticism of any apparent shortcoming in
their govt’s response to Covid-19 pandemic on both health
and economic management side, purely on the pretext that the
pandemic had no “playbook.”
Prime Minister Ardern had sought to push back any
criticism or an unpalatable line of questioning from either
the opposition or the media by seeking to refute on the “no
playbook” of the Covid-19 crisis – be it the announcement
of first post-lockdown budget or the latest issue of bungle at
our borders.
Soon after the PM had first used the argument effectively
in one of her media briefing on health updates, it was quickly
picked up by all her Ministers and MPs in their respective
interactions with the media or the members of public and
applied for any line of questioning.
Can the govt now play by “playbook”
on temporary migrant workers stuck
overseas?
Notably, where this argument was most markedly used was
on the issue of thousands of temporary migrant workers being
stuck overseas, as the clueless government chose to act with
extreme caution and till now has stopped short of giving any
assurance for an early entry back into the county.
The idea that thousands of unsuspecting temporary visa
holders who were travelling overseas for normal family
visiting pur
investment
keep its bor
of many.
Govt m
conservativ
discretion o
of NZ citize
with work v
the country
using the “n
of questioni
In the cas
there has n
anyone in th
of their frus
visa holders
their visa s
efforts of ke
Covid-19 vi
Is there a
to overseas
situations?
Now tha
to play by
the resignat
government
model of pa
it will not h
In that reg
of the logist
and the sud
of deciding
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