Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.06.2016, Page 20

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 8 — 2016
20
As hard as it may be to believe, Ice-
land has only had five presidents
since first gaining independence
from Denmark in 1944. Since then,
while the vast majority of Iceland-
ers believe they should have a
president, the question of what
the role entails, or should entail,
has been a subject of great con-
tention in recent years. The two
poles in these debates are usually
the concept of a ceremonial fig-
urehead versus that of a political
leader who might even act against
the wishes of Parliament. In fact,
the President of Iceland has al-
ways been a political office, and
often a controversial one.
Iceland’s very first President
was Sveinn Björnsson, whose
presidency was thrust upon him
by the Nazi invasion of Denmark
in 1940. At that time, Iceland was
a Danish colony, and the German
occupation effectively granted
Iceland autonomy. That being the
case, Sveinn was elected Regent,
a position designed to perform all
the tasks the Danish king would
have. In 1941, he invited Ameri-
can troops to occupy Iceland and
protect it from possible German
attacks—a move that sparked criti-
cism that would last for decades,
shades of which you can see to this
day in discussions about Icelandic
sovereignty.
Ásgeir Ásgeirsson would fol-
low, being elected in a hotly con-
tested race in 1952 after the death
of Sveinn, who passed away be-
fore completing his term. Ásgeir
was truly a dark horse candidate,
as many if not most assumed it a
foregone conclusion that Minister
in the Reykjavík Cathedral Bjarni
Jónsson was going to clinch the
vote. But even with the support of
Iceland’s governing parties, Bjarni
could not come out on top. Ásgeir
managed to edge a nose past the
finish line, with 46.7% of the vote
against 44.1% for Bjarni.
The presidency grows up
After him, Dr. Kristján Eldjárn
would rise to ascendency, and
was arguably Iceland’s first me-
dia-savvy presidential candidate.
Prior to his political career, he
hosted a very popular educa-
tional television show, broadcast
on RÚV, making him a familiar
and enjoyable face to much of the
population before he even began
running. Kristján was another
dark horse, facing polls that large-
ly favoured ambassador Gunnar
Thorroddsen, and yet beating him
soundly with 65.6% of the vote.
While he once considered forming
a government without parliamen-
tary support when party leaders
reached a legislative impasse, his
presidency was largely smooth
sailing.
The President of Iceland that
would follow would end up put-
ting the country on the inter-
national map: the world’s first
democratically elected female
president, Vigdís Finnbogadót-
tir. Her presidency is notable for
more than this reason, though,
and she arguably ushered in the
modern era of the Icelandic presi-
dency. Prior to running for office,
she was active in the anti-NATO
movement that arose in the wake
of Sveinn’s decision to allow the
occupation decades previous. The
women’s movement in Iceland
picked up considerable momen-
tum throughout the 1970s, and
after some convincing, she agreed
to run in 1980. Although she only
narrowly won, she would prove not
only hugely popular but also very
political, focusing on environ-
mentalism, and was instrumen-
tal in Iceland hosting the historic
talks held between Reagan and
Gorbachev in 1986. She was fond
of the motto “Never let the women
down,” and became the face of the
growing political power of Icelan-
dic feminism. She has, since her
retirement, been UNESCO’s am-
bassador of languages.
Welcome to the modern era
Iceland’s fifth and current Presi-
dent needs no introduction: Óla-
fur Ragnar Grímsson, the first
to use his presidential author-
ity to influence legislation. Ólafur
was largely a ceremonial figure
through most of his presidency,
but that changed in 2004, when
he refused to sign a controversial
media bill crafted by the Inde-
pendence Party. The move was
unprecedented, and the common
wisdom of the day was that as the
bill was largely specially crafted by
Independence Party chairperson
Davíð Oddsson to specifically tar-
get the corporation Baugur Group,
who owned a considerable stake in
Iceland’s media industry, Ólafur’s
refusal to sign the bill was a strike
back against Davíð, his ideologi-
cal foe. Davíð would never forget
this (more on that later), but Óla-
fur was far from finished. He also
refused to sign the Icesave agree-
ment in 2010 and 2011, on both
occasions referring the matter to
public referendum, where it was
also defeated.
Ólafur has been a controversial
figure, and not solely for spending
twenty years as head of state—
virtually unheard-of in a demo-
cratic society. He is also well-
known for speaking very frankly
in interviews with the interna-
tional press, sometimes express-
ing opinions that are diametri-
cally opposed to the policies of the
Icelandic government, often caus-
ing confusion abroad as to where
Iceland stands on issues such as
joining the European Union. He
also spent a considerable amount
of time and energy taking part in
private and public speaking en-
gagements, touting the savvy and
can-do spirit of Icelandic venture
capitalists. This extensive cheer-
leading would come back to haunt
him, as the Special Investigative
Commission report on the causes
of Iceland’s 2008 financial crash
cited, in part, the President’s en-
thusiastic promotion of Icelandic
financiers. His stance on Icesave
was so popular, however, that this
barely made a scratch on his im-
age, and he was re-elected in 2012
to what he promised would be his
last term.
But do we need a President?
Which brings us to today. While
we all assumed that Ólafur would
be stepping quietly into the shad-
ows to finish his term and let
someone else take the helm, he
emerged in the wake of the Pana-
ma Papers scandal to announce he
was running again. This caused
considerable agitation, especially
as it looked like he had a decent
chance at being re-elected. How-
ever, invoking the Panama Papers
would end up being a move that
would turn on him, as it came to
light that his wife, Dorrit Mous-
saieff, and her family have consid-
erable connections to offshore tax
shelters. As he dodged the press
and gave short, evasive answers,
one candidate emerged that no
one and still everyone expected
would run at some point: Davíð
Oddsson. Rattled by the Panama
Papers, on the defensive against
the media, and now clearly intimi-
dated by his old political rival run-
ning against him, it wouldn’t be
long before Ólafur announced that
he decided he would not run again
after all.
Today, polling currently shows
historian Guðni Th. Jóhannesson
as the person most likely to be Ice-
land’s next President. His closest
competitor is Davíð, who has been
trailing far behind at a rather
even keel since he announced his
candidacy. Amazingly so, consid-
ering that in his capacity as co-
editor of Morgunblaðið, he has
overseen having this normally
subscription-only newspaper de-
livered free to homes all over the
country, touting his own virtues
while downplaying or dismissing
all other candidates. Anything can
happen between now and election
day (June 25) but, barring some
miracle, it looks like Iceland has
made its choice already.
It is a curious thing that an
office that started as a stop-gap
solution, a stand-in for the king,
should survive to the present day.
Especially as we have a Prime
Minister, and especially as the
official political duties—namely,
signing bills into law—can be
performed by the Parliamentary
President. For now, the office may
be one that generates controver-
sy, but so it has always done. For
better or worse, most Iceland-
ers want a president. Whether or
not Icelanders will always want
a president is something future
generations will have to decide for
themselves.
Our Local
Regent:

Great Moments In
Icelandic Presidential
History
Words:
PAUL FONTAINE
1944-1952
Sveinn Björnsson
Fun fact: Is the great-grandfather
of Icelandic journalist Anna Margrét
Björnsson and Singapore Sling front-
man Henrik Björnsson.
Not-so-fun fact: Had a son who
fought in World War II… for Germany.
1952-1968
Ásgeir Ásgeirsson
Fun fact: First president elected by
popular vote!
Not-so-fun fact: Arguably the
father of the Icelandic banking
system.
1968-1980
Kristján Eldjárn
Fun fact: Hosted an educational TV
show, researched pagan burial sites
in university.
Not-so-fun fact: Died getting
treated for heart disease in the
United States.
1980-1996
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
Fun fact: First democratically elected
female president in the world.
Not-so-fun fact: It is actually pretty
difficult to say anything not-so-fun
about her tenure in office.
1996-present day
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Fun fact: Used to be a staunch leftist,
and once debated Milton Friedman.
Not-so-fun fact: Kept flip-flopping
on whether he was running or not, was
BFFs with Iceland’s venture capital-
ists.
ALL THE
PRESIDENTS,
MAN!