Halló halló!
Elections came and went this weekend, and Iceland has a new president elect: Ms Halla Tómasdóttir.
I am pleased with this outcome. As I wrote last week, there was a whole lot of contention and strife in the lead-up to this election, the nation was divided, and harsh words were spoken. Most people, I believe, thought our freshly-resigned Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir would secure the seat, but in the end she landed in second place with just over 25% support. Halla won with around 34%.
This is not Halla Tómasdóttir’s first rodeo. She ran in 2016 and came in second after Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, our outgoing president. Her road to victory this time around was remarkable, she started with single-digit support, which lingered for quite a while, and considered scrapping the whole endeavour. Then she took a huge leap forward in the polls around three weeks ago, and finished with this spectacular result.
Halla is not without controversy—many people hold it against her that she comes from the financial sector, and was head of the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce for a year prior to the economic meltdown in 2008. She was the first woman to hold that post, and after stepping down went on to found Auður Capital, which focused on incorporating feminine values into finance and investment to counteract the high-risk, short-term thinking that prevailed, and eventually led to the collapse of the Icelandic economy.
Halla was also one of the coordinators of the 2009 National Assembly, which sought to redefine the values of the Icelandic people in moving on from the economic meltdown, with the aim of writing a new constitution—an undertaking the current and previous regimes in Iceland have repeatedly and consistently refused to complete.
As I have said before, the Icelandic presidency has little to do with the day-to-day running of the country. Each president can shape the office to align with their particular vision, while remaining in tune with the wishes and needs of the nation as a whole. Halla has emphasized facilitating a dialogue between different generations, and said that one of her first tasks after taking office is to hold an assembly of young people at Bessastaðir, the president’s official residence, to hear their concerns and vision for the future. She then plans to do the same with elderly citizens, to listen to their views.
Not surprisingly, she drew most of her support from among younger voters.
Again, I am pleased with this result, and believe Halla will be a fine President of Iceland.
Any thoughts or questions about the elections or the presidency? Feel free to drop them in the comments.
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