Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.06.2016, Qupperneq 6

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WORD OF
THE ISSUE:
The word of the issue this issue is fiðril-
di. This word means “butterfly.” While
there is an equivalent word for fiðrildi
in every country in the world that has
butterflies, fiðrildi outclasses all the
European words for the creature. It’s
prettier than the English word, much
prettier than the Swedish (fjäril) and
much, much prettier than the German
(Schmetterling). In fact, the only Euro-
pean words for butterfly that even come
close to topping fiðrildi are from Italian
(farfalla) and Spanish (mariposa). It’s
not often Icelanders get to feel proud that
their word for a thing is far prettier than
the equivalents in other European lan-
guages, but fiðrildi is a notable exception.
Fiðrildi
PRO
ET
CONTRA
POEM
FOR
Icelanders may disagree with one an-
other on any number of highly charged
political issues, but if there’s one thing
we can all agree on, it’s that we love hav-
ing a single leader we can pin all of our
hopes on, and blame when those hopes
fail to materialise. It is the cornerstone of
our society.
Despite this natural fact, every four
years we have to go through the same
song and dance all over again about
whether or not we need to have a Presi-
dent, given the fact that we have a Prime
Minister. This is like asking why we need
a CFO if we already have a CEO. No suc-
cessful company thrives without a well-
insulated and well-paid cadre at the top
of the pyramid. And as in business, so in
democracy.
Besides which, the Prime Minister is
the least qualified person for doing what
the President spends most of their time
doing: greeting foreign dignitaries and
giving free-stylin’ interviews to the in-
ternational press. Being a PM is a hard,
exhausting job. Imagine a frazzled, over-
worked PM—their clothes clearly slept
in, their teeth unbrushed, sporting a bad
case of bedhead—greeting the Queen of
Denmark. Iceland would be a laughing-
stock.
All the other big, important countries
have presidents. That should be reason
enough for us to have one, too.
AGAINST
It’s hard to think of a public office as use-
less as the President. When people call
Iceland “the land of little kings,” this is
exactly what they’re talking about.
Everyone wants to be in charge of
something, no matter how inconsequen-
tial the position may be. And as long as
we’re going to abide this mentality, why
not get rid of the presidency, and replace
it with a hereditary monarchy?
Hear me out here. What is the single
worst part of the presidency, apart from
that giant gilded necklace they wear in
their official portraits? The campaign-
ing, of course. Every four years, we have
to endure the tiresome spectacle of a
bunch of people, many of whom you only
see in the news during presidential elec-
tion season, pretending to be all regal
and elder-statesmanlike while simulta-
neously taking cheap shots at their oppo-
nents.
Let’s just trim the fat. I propose that
whomever we elect on June 25, that per-
son will be President for Life. Our last
one practically was anyway, so why not
make it official? When this elected Presi-
dent passes on, their oldest child will
then inherit the position. If they have no
children, then… I dunno, a jousting con-
test or something.
Apart from the entertainment po-
tential of some ‘Game of Thrones’-level
danger and intrigue at Bessastaðir, we
would for once be being honest about
why we have a President and what they’re
for: a figurehead, comparable to the star
on top of the Christmas tree. Only with
the added benefit that royals never have
to run for office.
SHARE: gpv.is/pr1
-
hemmed in
truncated
decapitated
such words and more
we’ve been given
such is the space
we’re allotted
way longer than was necessary
A Poem By
Kári Páll Óskarsson
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 8 — 2016
6
A POEM BY is curated by Grapevine’s
poetry liaison, Jón Örn Loðmfjörð
The number of candidates
running for President this year.
9
The number of terms our
current President served.
5
The number of candidates
running for President this year
who are women.
4
The maximum number of
terms the draft for the new
constitution suggests for the
presidency.
3
What the constitution
currently says about term
limits.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Presidency