Iceland review - 2016, Qupperneq 37

ICELAND REVIEW 35
should be apolitical. “A president listens
to the people and supports good ideas,
but doesn’t put issues on the agenda
according to his own opinion.”
Traditionally, the role of the president
is largely ceremonial, with the president
representing the nation rather than the
administration. The president can veto
legislation and send the laws to national
referendums, which no president ever
did until Ólafur Ragnar came along. The
constitution indicates that the president
has the authority to hire and fire minis-
ters, introduce resolutions and dissolve
parliament—an authority which some of
the other candidates would like to take
advantage of. However, legal experts
have stated that the president cannot
act on that authority on his or her own
accord.
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
While campaigning, Guðni faces many
questions and always seems to have
his answers straight. However, during
a debate organized by Átak, the asso-
ciation of people with disabilities, he
is left flabbergasted when a member
of the audience asks: “Guðni, where
is Davíð?” referring to former Prime
Minister Davíð Oddsson, the only can-
didate who isn’t there, and one of those
who has tried hard to make Guðni lose
his cool. Guðni hesitates, then responds:
“I can answer many things, but that, I
don’t know.” The enquirer isn’t satisfied.
“Doesn’t he care about us?” he probes.
Guðni argues that people shouldn’t be
judged by their attendance records. “It
doesn’t matter, I’d rather vote for you
anyway,” the man reveals.
The president is the face of the nation
and the voice of the people, Guðni
states. His core message is: “Education,
culture, humanity.” When asked on what
he would like to focus if elected, he
responds: “Help those who need it the
most.” He explains that he was extremely
shy as a teenager and that he would like
to help others, who for some reason are
being left behind, to be seen and heard.
He wants to meet with people around
the country and learn about what’s most
important to them. “The president has
an indirect influential power. He can
launch discussions and in that way put
them on the agenda. Wherever he goes,
the president takes an invisible lectern
with him.” To a nation hurting from
the corruption surrounding the 2008
economic crisis and most recently the
Panama Papers scandal, Guðni wants to
be the president, “who helps unite and
restore trust in Iceland.” *
Guðni and Eliza with the whole bunch.
From left: Rut (Guðni’s daughter from a
previous relationship, born in 1994); Donald
Gunnar (born in 2009); Duncan Tindur (born
in 2007); Sæþór Peter (born in 2011) and
Edda Margrét (born in 2013). Family life is
important to Guðni, he has stressed, and he
will continue cycling with the kids to school.
He and Eliza are organized and they will
be able to juggle parenthood with holding
public office as well, he reasons. It has
been decades since children last lived at
Bessastaðir.