New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters called on Sunday for a delay to the planned September general election, given an abrupt reappearance of Covid-19 in the country, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to postpone the vote.
Last week's resurgence of the infections in Auckland - after the country had been free of infections of the new coronavirus for 102 days - was compromising the ability to hold a "free and fair election" on September 19, Mr Peters, the leader of the New Zealand First party, wrote in a letter to Ms Ardern.
Mr Peters, who delivered government to Ms Ardern's Labour party through a coalition deal after a 2017 election failed to result in a majority for the National or Labour parties, suggested October 17 and November 21 as alternative dates.
On Sunday, New Zealand recorded 13 confirmed infections, bringing the number of active cases to 69. Ms Ardern put Auckland, the country's largest city with a population of 1.7 million, under a two-week lockdown last week.
The opposition National Party also wants a delay, hoping that Ms Ardern, who had garnered much praise for crushing the pandemic, would lose some of her lustre once hardships caused by the Auckland lockdown begin to bite.
Ms Ardern, who has been seen as largely resisting the calls for a delay, is set to decide by Monday.
"The prime minister has proactively sought the views of the leaders of every political party represented in parliament this afternoon about the election date," said a representative for Ms Ardern. "A range of views have been expressed that the prime minister has taken on board."
The source of the recent outbreak remains under investigation.
Mr Peters said that "the border remains the likely source of the outbreak," suggesting a breach in quarantine procedures of people returning from abroad.
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
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