12/31/2016
Day 14 – Powerful People
You are now fully recharged having spent the last few days watching TV and listening to music in your hotel room. You decide to go for a walk. As soon as you step outside you see a big bus drive past. On the side of the bus is a huge picture of the leader, the president/prime minister, of the country. They are the most powerful person in the whole country.
Scroll down to learn more about the prime minister and/or president for your chosen country.
Country + Title
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Name
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Information
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Picture
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Prime Minister of Canada
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Mr. Justin Pierre James Trudeau
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Justin Trudeau is the current Prime Minister of Canada. He became prime minister on 4 November 2015. His dad, Pierre, was the prime minister of Canada in the 1970s. Before Justin became the prime minister he worked as a teacher.
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President of Chile
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Ms. (Veronica) Michelle Bachelet
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The current President of the Republic of Chile is Michelle Bachelet. She was first became president in 2006 and is the first woman in the history of Chile to be the president. She speaks five languages - Spanish, English, German, Portuguese and French.
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President of Chile
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Mr. Joachim Gauck
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The current president of Germany is Mr. Joachim Gauck. He became president in March 2012. Before he became the president, he was a minister. He is married and has four children – Christian, Martin, Gesine and Katharina.
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Malaysian Prime Minister
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The current Prime Minister of Malaysia is Mr. Najib Razak. He is the 6th prime minister of the country. He became the prime minister in April 2009. He is married to his wife, Rosmah, and together they have five children.
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Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
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Mrs. Theresa Mary May
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Mrs. May became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 13 July 2016. She is the leader of the conservative party and only the second woman to ever become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Mrs. May has been married to her husband, Philip, for 36 years. They do not have any children.
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President of the United Mexican States (Mexico)
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Mr. Enrique Pena Nieto
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Mr. Nieto is the 57th President of Mexico. He was elected on 1 July 2012 and took office on 1 December 2012. He was originally educated as a lawyer and had been the governor of Mexico prior to becoming president. Mr. Pena Nieto is currently married to a soap opera actress, Angelica Rivera. He has four children.
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President of the Republic of South Africa
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Mr. Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma
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Mr. Zuma was elected as president in 2009 and re-elected in 2014. He is also the President of the African National Congress (ANC). Mr. Zuma is currently married to four women and has approximately 20 children.
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President of the United Arab Emirates
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Mr. Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
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Mr. (Sheikh) Khalifa became the president on 3 November 2004 after his father, the former president, passed away. He is the head of the government, the army and the supreme council for the UAE. His family is worth approximately $150 billion dollars. Sheikh Khalifa is married to Shamsa bint Suhail Al Mazrouri. He has no children.
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Prime Minister of Japan
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Mr. Shinzo Abe
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Mr. Abe is the prime minister and the president of the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan. He was first elected as prime minister in 2006 but had to resign in 2007 for health reasons. He recovered and was re-elected as prime minister in 2012. He and his wife, Akie Matsuzaki, have no children.
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Prime Minister of Australia
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Mr. Malcolm Turnbull
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Mr. Turnbull became the prime minister on 15 September 2015. He was not elected by the people of Australia but, instead, by members of his own party, the Liberal Party. They had a special vote because they were not happy with the work that the current prime minister, Tony Abbott, was doing. Mr. Turnbull was then elected by the people of Australia in the 2016 election. He is married to his wife Lucy and they have two children.
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Prime Minister of Australia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Turnbull
Activity 1
Here in New Zealand, the prime minister of the country is the Honourable John Key. Imagine that you are Mr. Key and you have the power to create laws (rules) that all people in New Zealand would have to follow. If I (Rachel) were the prime minister I would make a rule that everyone should eat lollies for breakfast. What three (3) rules would you make up if you were the prime minister? On your blog tell us what your three rules would be.
ANSWER
My three rules would be that 1 day in a week everybody gets the day off work and school and they get a free plane ticket to go where ever they want in the world.
My three rules would be that 1 day in a week everybody gets the day off work and school and they get a free plane ticket to go where ever they want in the world.
My second rule would be that on Monday and Friday every school in New Zealand would have ice cream and whatever fast food they wanted for lunch.
My last rule would be that every kid in New Zealand would get to do whatever they wanted to do.
Activity 2
Some people say that the most powerful person in the world is the president of the United States. His name is Donald Trump and he became the president this past November when he beat out his competitor, a woman named Hillary Clinton. Google ‘Hillary Clinton’ to find out a little bit more about her. On your blog, post three interesting facts about Hillary.
ANSWER
1. Hillary Clinton was married to Bill Clinton who was the president of America in January 1993 - 2001.
2. Hillary Clinton only has one daughter and her is Chelsea Clinton.
3. Hillary Clinton has 2 brothers and their names are Hugh Rodham and Tony Rodham.
Bonus Activity
Being the prime minister of a country is a big responsibility. Would you like to be the prime minister of New Zealand one day? On your blog tell us what you think. Would you like to be the prime minister? Why or why not?
ANSWERI would not like to be the prime minister of New Zealand because it would be a big responsibility because I would be in charge of a WHOLE COUNTRY. I would also have to go to boring meetings all day long and it wouldn't be any fun.
Hi Katelyn!
ReplyDeleteHappy (almost) new year. I can't believe that 2017 is only 6 hours away. WOW!
It has certainly been an interesting year for us here in New Zealand. We had the shocking announcement in early December by Prime Minister John Key that he was stepping down as Prime Minister. I was really surprised! I can understand that it would have been a difficult decision for him, however, as it is a very hard job.
You're completely right to note that it involves a HUGE amount of responsibility and a number of meetings. Many of these meetings are likely to be quite dry and boring so I would imagine that John Key grew tired of the role and was ready to take a break.
I wonder what our new Prime Minister (Bill English) will be like...
I suppose that only time will tell! In the meantime, I hope that you have a wonderful start to 2017.
I'll look forward to reading all of your blogs and posting comments!
See you in 2017,
Rachel :)
Hi Katelyn,
ReplyDeleteYou've worked hard on doing the activities in this section of the Summer Learning Program - well done!
I think that many many children in New Zealand would love to have the new rules that you've suggested, if you were prime minister. Days off of school, ice cream and free plane tickets sound like a lot of fun!!
But I hope children would still choose to learn as part of their choice to do whatever they wish! Learning about new things is very thrilling to me. And particularly it's fun when you can share what you've learned with other people!
I can understand why you might think being prime minister would involve going to a lot of boring meetings. I suspect it also involves meeting interesting people and helping people throughout the country to have a better life. That would be the fun aspect of the job and might make up for all of the meetings the prime minister has to attend. What do you think?
I'm sorry to know that your current prime minister has resigned. I hope that the new one is very capable and very kind in his approach to the work. With all of the challenges New Zealand has to deal with on the south island and in Wellington, following the earth quakes, I hope this prime minister is able to make some good decisions about how to move forward to repair the damage and help people re-build their homes and businesses.
I'm enjoying your blogs!!
Leslie
Hi Katelyn,
ReplyDeleteYou've worked hard on doing the activities in this section of the Summer Learning Program - well done!
I think that many many children in New Zealand would love to have the new rules that you've suggested, if you were prime minister. Days off of school, ice cream and free plane tickets sound like a lot of fun!!
But I hope children would still choose to learn as part of their choice to do whatever they wish! Learning about new things is very thrilling to me. And particularly it's fun when you can share what you've learned with other people!
I can understand why you might think being prime minister would involve going to a lot of boring meetings. I suspect it also involves meeting interesting people and helping people throughout the country to have a better life. That would be the fun aspect of the job and might make up for all of the meetings the prime minister has to attend. What do you think?
I'm sorry to know that your current prime minister has resigned. I hope that the new one is very capable and very kind in his approach to the work. With all of the challenges New Zealand has to deal with on the south island and in Wellington, following the earth quakes, I hope this prime minister is able to make some good decisions about how to move forward to repair the damage and help people re-build their homes and businesses.
I'm enjoying your blogs!!
Leslie