Iceland review - 2012, Page 54

52 ICELAND REVIEW
POLITICs
One poll showed him leading by 9 per-
cent while others showed him equal with
Þóra. The others were lagging behind, but
scientist Ari Trausti slowly but surely had
climbed above the 10 percent mark. At the
beginning of June, the first televised debate
was held, and turned out to be highly dra-
matic. During the live broadcast, three of
the candidates with less support walked out
of the debate. They were unhappy with the
television channel’s original idea of invit-
ing only the two leading candidates to the
debate. In the end, it took place between
the two of them, as well as Herdís, but
turned out to be a catastrophe according to
audience reactions. Twitter and Facebook
were ablaze, with some viewers declaring
it the worst televised political debate in the
history of Icelandic television. The original
plan of the debate had to be thrown out
after the three candidates unexpectedly
walked out, and neither the presenters nor
the interviewees seemed to fully recov-
er. The old political fox Ólafur Ragnar
seemed to handle the situation best. With
sophisticated determination, he completely
overshadowed Þóra and Herdís, coming
across as assertive and decisive. This seemed
to play a big part in the total reversal seen
continue its application for membership in
the European Union—membership which
was favored by Prime Minister Jóhanna
Sigurðardóttir’s Social Democratic Party.
Ólafur, on the other hand, had reservations
about the prospect of joining the EU. He also
accused the Icelandic media of giving Þóra
(a very well-known media figure in Iceland)
preferential treatment.
Two more polls conducted in the follow-
ing days still showed Þóra leading, albeit with
a smaller margin, and the long-term effects of
Ólafur Ragnar’s strategy were still not visible.
Þóra, who was eight months pregnant when
she decided to run, had just given birth to
her baby, and therefore could not immedi-
ately answer his sharp attacks. On top of that,
some old legal issues regarding her husband
resurfaced. Even if they at first seemed irrel-
evant, they might have had an impact in the
long run. In his younger years, he had been
charged with assaulting another man. The
couple was forced to make a statement, in
which he said he regretted the incident.
A DRAMAtIC tv DebAte
By the end of May, it seemed that Ólafur
Ragnar had climbed up to the top again.
in the polls in early June that confirmed that
he had cemented his lead over Þóra by 5-10
percent.
A DIvIDeD CouNtRY
CoNtINueS to ARgue
The last two weeks of the presidential race
showed a deep divide in the people of
Iceland. Social media and blogs brought to
light discussions that had been merely a part
of a few people’s talk. It had, in many people’s
minds, become the most heated presidential
election in Iceland’s history.
Back to Saturday June 30. Despite almost
24 hours of sunlight in Iceland, almost 70
percent of the electorate turned out to vote
in the presidential election. The first results
were almost identical to the latest polls, giv-
ing reigning president Ólafur Ragnar a com-
fortable lead. In the end, 53 percent of the
electorate decided to allow him a fifth term,
which will give him a total of 20 years in
office. Þóra came in second with 33 percent
of the votes. The old fox did it again, and
despite heated arguments, no one can deny
the political ability of the reigning president
of Iceland. 
THe FINAL ReSuLTS IN THe RACe FOR BeSSASTAðIR:
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (52%)
Þóra Arnórsdóttir (33%)
Ari Trausti Guðmundsson (8.6%)
Herdís Þorgeirsdóttir (2.6%)
Andrea Ólafsdóttir (1.8%)
Hannes Bjarnason (0.9%)
PHOTO By PÁLL KJARTANSSON