Iceland review - 2016, Page 62

60 ICELAND REVIEW
is capable of when he has real money at
stake. Can anyone remind the former
prime minister of Ockham’s razor? All
things being equal, the simplest answer
is usually the right one.
Sigmundur Davíð’s reappearance sent
shivers down my spine. The predictable
arguments about the progress he made
as prime minister were followed by the
still more predictable warnings about the
threats we face—the classic rabble-rous-
er tactic. He also gave us his old spiel that
he is the only one who has all the answers
to all our problems, and that being
the reason why the media deliberately
misunderstand him and misconstrue his
words, and why he is the victim of global
conspiracies. These reappearances served
as a useful reminder that he should not
be allowed to return under any circum-
stances.
A NEW PRESIDENT
The Panama Papers also played a walk-
on part when Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson,
president since 1996, was replaced by
historian Guðni Th. Jóhannesson who,
at 48, became the youngest president in
the short history of our republic. The
Panama leak revealed that the fortune of
Dorrit Moussaieff, Ólafur Ragnar’s wife,
was held in offshore companies and trusts
which, though not in itself illegal, was an
uncomfortable revelation in the midst of
the storm over the prime minister’s fate.
Just a few days before, the president had
been asked by Christiane Amanpour on
CNN whether there would be revela-
tions in the Panama Papers about his or
his family’s affairs. “No, no, no, no, no.
That is not going to be the case,” was the
emphatic reply.
The presidential election was, for
the most part, a strange spectacle. The
incumbent, who in 2012 announced
in January that he was quitting, only
to decide that he was in fact staying,
announced that this time he really was
quitting. Shortly afterwards, the scandal
surrounding the prime minister seemed
to grant him the reason he needed to
run for yet another term. The argument
that he used to justify running again in
2012, that a safe pair of hands was need-
ed during times of uncertainty was run
up the flagpole again. However, within
three weeks of announcing his candidacy,
Ólafur Ragnar decided to pack it in, giv-
ing as his reason the fact that the nation
could now choose other candidates with
suitable experience to provide stability.
He did not mention that only a few
minutes before the announcement, a new
Market and Media Research (MMR) poll
indicated that his support had shrunk
by 50 percent from the last poll. Guðni
quickly gained a convincing lead in the
polls against eight other candidates, only
three of whom could have been said to be
serious contenders.
The election provided a stage for a
third hugely divisive figure, who had
been on the sidelines for the last few
years: former long-serving prime min-
ister, foreign minister, governor of the
Central Bank, and current editor of daily
newspaper Morgunblaðið Davíð Oddsson.
He started off his presidential campaign
a changed man, a uniting figure, warm
and kind-hearted, a man of the people
who would open up Bessastaðir to the
public. From there, flagging in the polls,
he graduated to a candidate who pro-
fessed his complete lack of interest in
getting elected, although he did say that
should he be elected he would forego the
official salary; he didn’t need the money
anyway. Gradually he showed a more
familiar face, becoming bad-tempered
and aggressive in his attacks on the lead-
ing candidate, culminating in a stunned
“have you no shame?” reply from Guðni
to a particularly low blow attack. Guðni
was elected with 39.1 percent of the vote,
with Davíð Oddsson coming in fourth
with 13.7 percent.
A NEW GOVERNMENT?
And so, due to the fallout from the
Panama Papers, we’re gearing up for par-
liamentary elections in October; six to
seven months ahead of schedule. There is
a great deal of uncertainty regarding the
outcome. The government insists that
its achievements are substantial. It has
solved the problem of how to deal with
OPINION