Sri Lanka, Oct. 19 -- Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won a landslide victory in New Zealand's general election on Saturday, leveraging success battling Covid-19 into an unprecedented majority she said gave her a mandate for progressive reform.

Ardern's centre-left Labour Party took 64 seats in the 120-member parliament with 49 percent of the vote, after the youthful and charismatic leader steered the nation through the upheaval wrought by the global pandemic.

"Thank you to the many people who gave us their vote, who trusted us to continue leading New Zealand's recovery," the 40-year-old told cheering supporters.

Ardern had dubbed the vote "the Covid election" and campaigned on her government's success in eliminating community transmissi...