Green MP Chloe Swarbrick reacts to the outcome of the cannabis referendum on Friday. Photo / Dean Purcell
COMMENT:
It isn’t Jacinda Ardern’s fault that the cannabis legalisation referendum failed.
Plenty of disappointed pro-legalisation voters are unfairly blaming the Prime Minister. They believe the vote might’ve passed if only she had declared earlier how she’d voted, rather than keeping it a secret until after the results were announced.
As soon as Ardern finally admitted to a “yes” vote, social media filled with messages accusing her of “zero leadership on this issue”, wishing she had “mentioned BEFORE the election”, saying she “was unwilling to spend a cent of her political capital to get it across the line” and arguing that it “could have made a difference to the results if she had told us beforehand”.
It might’ve made a difference, it might not have. Maybe Ardern could have led a few undecideds to follow…
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