John Key takes a shot at immortalization
In a shocking announcement on Monday, December 5, John Key surprised the nation by declaring his decision to step down from the Prime Ministerial position and as the National Party Leader.
The announcement came in the traditional media stand up due every Monday after his cabinet meetings.
These post-cabinet meeting media stand up every Monday have been witness to many major policy decisions of the government in the last eight years.
Not many would have anticipated anything like this coming from a seemingly mundane media stand up.
The speech which began sharply at 12.45 p.m. had its normal elements of composed elegance, one of many attributes of John Key's "brand of politics", before he began to meander into the uncharted territory of signalling the decision to step down when his voice began to waver emotionally.
It is an unchartered territory which no another politician in the recent public memory has embarked.
With a risk of being dubbed as a eulogy, it is asserted here that through this uncharted pathway, John Key has taken a shot at immortalization in public memory.
It's not every day that an immensely successful and popular Prime Minister of a country, with a record approval ratings for a third consecutive term, and no real challenge in sight to his position and charisma either in government or opposition makes a deliberate choice of stepping down.
Abdicating power at its peak is usually not associated with the "mortals".
For the ordinary mortals, nineteenth-century British politician and commentator Lord Acton has commented that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
The 'corruption' for a politician in John Key's shoes of high popularity and absence of any real challenge to his position would be in faltering to abdicate power timely before it becomes too 'late'.
Lateness here implies reaching a stage where leaders are displaced through an internal coup or loss of popularity in public and leading to be gently chided away from the position of authority.
Nothing of this sort happened in John Key's script.
He has exercised his 'power from within' with courage, to despise the 'absolute power' conferred on him externally by the dynamics of modern electoral politics to defy Lord Acton's comment on the mortals that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
This surely gives him a pathway to immortalisation in the public minds.
In fact when Prime Minister himself acknowledges that no modern Prime Minister in the post-war period has left on their terms, then he demonstrates his acquaintance with the pathway to immortalisation.
Mr Key's claim to perennial fame is not purely from his domestic popularity within this country.
In fact, he can take some credit in contributing towards New Zealand's global image in world politics.
The way Mr Key has led the nation through the global financial crisis, the way he made New Zealand's voice heard with respect at the global power centres, and his personal connect with world leaders like Barrack Obama, David Cameron and many others have enhanced New Zealand's international image.
Make no mistake, if New Zealand would not have been a small nation in the vast stretches of the South Pacific Ocean and seemingly situated somewhere else in the main global heartland, then John Key's resignation would have attracted far more awe and reverence from the world community.
However, John Key's script to immortalization is not purely without some challenge.
There is one small opening which could potentially blemish if not altogether spoil Mr Key's legacy is the ensuing competition for the leadership transition in the National Party.
So far the decision to resign appears to be made on the basis of what is good for Mr Key himself, and his perception that leaving early will give new leadership some time ahead of next general election.
In the absence of any other evidence we have to accept this argument
Although, it has yet to be proven.
If National Party's and New Zealand's script is to falter slightly from the current cruising position, then the history will point back to this present moment when Mr Key arbitrarily chose to press the 'reboot' button.
What if this forced leadership transition does not translate into a reality as envisaged by outgoing Prime Minister John Key.
It will certainly be asked then that why this reboot was deliberately set at the first place.
Even in computers, usually, the reboot button is pressed when a computer is not working properly.
It must be for some reason that we do not press reboot button in computers when it is functioning efficiently.
However, this again is something that will be determined in the future.
Till that time, Mr Key can be exonerated from any imaginary blemish on his bid for immortalising himself within public minds.
The "pride" that he seeks for "leaving on his terms," can be safely granted to him by a thankful nation.
In a shocking announcement on Monday, December 5, John Key surprised the nation by declaring his decision to step down from the Prime Ministerial position and as the National Party Leader.
The announcement came in the traditional media stand up due every Monday after his cabinet meetings.
These...
In a shocking announcement on Monday, December 5, John Key surprised the nation by declaring his decision to step down from the Prime Ministerial position and as the National Party Leader.
The announcement came in the traditional media stand up due every Monday after his cabinet meetings.
These post-cabinet meeting media stand up every Monday have been witness to many major policy decisions of the government in the last eight years.
Not many would have anticipated anything like this coming from a seemingly mundane media stand up.
The speech which began sharply at 12.45 p.m. had its normal elements of composed elegance, one of many attributes of John Key's "brand of politics", before he began to meander into the uncharted territory of signalling the decision to step down when his voice began to waver emotionally.
It is an unchartered territory which no another politician in the recent public memory has embarked.
With a risk of being dubbed as a eulogy, it is asserted here that through this uncharted pathway, John Key has taken a shot at immortalization in public memory.
It's not every day that an immensely successful and popular Prime Minister of a country, with a record approval ratings for a third consecutive term, and no real challenge in sight to his position and charisma either in government or opposition makes a deliberate choice of stepping down.
Abdicating power at its peak is usually not associated with the "mortals".
For the ordinary mortals, nineteenth-century British politician and commentator Lord Acton has commented that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
The 'corruption' for a politician in John Key's shoes of high popularity and absence of any real challenge to his position would be in faltering to abdicate power timely before it becomes too 'late'.
Lateness here implies reaching a stage where leaders are displaced through an internal coup or loss of popularity in public and leading to be gently chided away from the position of authority.
Nothing of this sort happened in John Key's script.
He has exercised his 'power from within' with courage, to despise the 'absolute power' conferred on him externally by the dynamics of modern electoral politics to defy Lord Acton's comment on the mortals that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
This surely gives him a pathway to immortalisation in the public minds.
In fact when Prime Minister himself acknowledges that no modern Prime Minister in the post-war period has left on their terms, then he demonstrates his acquaintance with the pathway to immortalisation.
Mr Key's claim to perennial fame is not purely from his domestic popularity within this country.
In fact, he can take some credit in contributing towards New Zealand's global image in world politics.
The way Mr Key has led the nation through the global financial crisis, the way he made New Zealand's voice heard with respect at the global power centres, and his personal connect with world leaders like Barrack Obama, David Cameron and many others have enhanced New Zealand's international image.
Make no mistake, if New Zealand would not have been a small nation in the vast stretches of the South Pacific Ocean and seemingly situated somewhere else in the main global heartland, then John Key's resignation would have attracted far more awe and reverence from the world community.
However, John Key's script to immortalization is not purely without some challenge.
There is one small opening which could potentially blemish if not altogether spoil Mr Key's legacy is the ensuing competition for the leadership transition in the National Party.
So far the decision to resign appears to be made on the basis of what is good for Mr Key himself, and his perception that leaving early will give new leadership some time ahead of next general election.
In the absence of any other evidence we have to accept this argument
Although, it has yet to be proven.
If National Party's and New Zealand's script is to falter slightly from the current cruising position, then the history will point back to this present moment when Mr Key arbitrarily chose to press the 'reboot' button.
What if this forced leadership transition does not translate into a reality as envisaged by outgoing Prime Minister John Key.
It will certainly be asked then that why this reboot was deliberately set at the first place.
Even in computers, usually, the reboot button is pressed when a computer is not working properly.
It must be for some reason that we do not press reboot button in computers when it is functioning efficiently.
However, this again is something that will be determined in the future.
Till that time, Mr Key can be exonerated from any imaginary blemish on his bid for immortalising himself within public minds.
The "pride" that he seeks for "leaving on his terms," can be safely granted to him by a thankful nation.
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