Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, was praised by foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as “the superwoman of New Zealand.”
On Thursday, Bilawal posted pictures of himself and PM Ardern on Twitter. These images were taken while the two met outside of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The minister referred to his encounter with Prime Minister Ardern as “the biggest fan moment.” He claimed in a tweet that Prime Minister Ardern is the second woman after his mother, Benazir Bhutto, to give birth while serving as prime minister.
Biggest fan moment of #UNGA . Was meeting @jacindaardern superwoman PM of New Zealand. After my mother the second head of government to give birth in office. She told me her daughter was born on the 21st of June, same as shaheed Benazir Bhutto! pic.twitter.com/jAazcSVrVY
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) September 29, 2022
Bilawal claims that she also told him that her daughter was born on June 21, the same day as Benazir Bhutto, a point that PM Jacinda had made in her speech at the commencement of Harvard University on May 26 earlier this year.
PM Ardern, addressing the ceremony, paid homage to Benazir Bhutto and said, “In June 1989, the prime minister of Pakistan [Benazir Bhutto] stood on this spot and delivered the commencement address titled Democratic Nations Must Unite. She [Bhutto] spoke about her journey, the importance of citizenry, representative government, human rights and democracy.”
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PM Ardern said, “She [Benazir Bhutto] was also the first to give birth in office. And, the second and only other leader to have given birth in office almost 30 years later, was me”. “My daughter, Neve Te Aroha (Light and Love) Ardern Gayford, was born on the 21st of June 2018, Benazir Bhutto’s birthday.”
Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s first and only female prime leader, gave the identical speech at Harvard in June 1989, 30 years ago. The two leaders attended a conference in Geneva in June 2007 that was attended by progressive parties from all over the world. PM Arden recounted the occasion when she first met Bhutto at the conference.