Icelandic president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson rode a wave of support for his defiance over debts from banking crash. Photograph: Ingolfur Juliusson/REUTERS
Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, the Icelandic president who rejected a deal that would have put the country’s taxpayers on the hook for £3bn debts to Britain and the Netherlands, has been re-elected for a fifth term. The vote makes him the longest-serving president in Iceland’s history.
Heavily criticised after the financial crisis for cheerleading for the overheated business sector, Grimsson earned back support from ordinary Icelanders and became a symbol of defiance after insisting the state should not foot the bill for the failed online bank Icesave.
The election on Saturday hinged on how politically active the president should be. Iceland is a parliamentary democracy, where the president has traditionally been seen as a figurehead. However, the head of state can refuse to sign bills passed by parliament, triggering a voter referendum. Grimsson was the first president to wield that power.
In a preliminary count, Grimsson took 52.2% of the vote. Thora Arnorsdottir, the closest challenger, who believed the president should not have political views or play an active role in promoting business, had 33.8%.
In his new year’s address, Grimsson insinuated that he would not seek re-election, but was encouraged to run again by a petition signed by 30,000 citizens. He has repeatedly said he believes he owed it to the Icelandic people to run again.
Iceland’s banking sector ballooned to nine times the tiny nation’s annual gross domestic product in a decade of boom, before collapsing under the weight of debt in October 2008. The country’s three main banks fell in a single week.
The failure of Icesave, an online subsidiary of Landsbanki bank, left 340,000 British and Dutch citizens out of pocket. Both Britain and the Netherlands reimbursed their citizens’ deposits and are still seeking repayment. Voters rejected the government-backed deal to repay them last year in a referendum, sending the dispute to an international court.
Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, the Icelandic president who rejected a deal that would have put the country’s taxpayers on the hook for £3bn debts to Britain and the Netherlands, has been re-elected for a fifth term. The vote makes him the longest-serving president in Iceland’s history.
Heavily criticised after the financial crisis for cheerleading for the overheated business sector, Grimsson earned back support from ordinary Icelanders and became a symbol of defiance after insisting the state should not foot the bill for the failed online bank Icesave.
The election on Saturday hinged on how politically active the president should be. Iceland is a parliamentary democracy, where the president has traditionally been seen as a figurehead. However, the head of state can refuse to sign bills passed by parliament, triggering a voter referendum. Grimsson was the first president to wield that power.
In a preliminary count, Grimsson took 52.2% of the vote. Thora Arnorsdottir, the closest challenger, who believed the president should not have political views or play an active role in promoting business, had 33.8%.
In his new year’s address, Grimsson insinuated that he would not seek re-election, but was encouraged to run again by a petition signed by 30,000 citizens. He has repeatedly said he believes he owed it to the Icelandic people to run again.
Iceland’s banking sector ballooned to nine times the tiny nation’s annual gross domestic product in a decade of boom, before collapsing under the weight of debt in October 2008. The country’s three main banks fell in a single week.
The failure of Icesave, an online subsidiary of Landsbanki bank, left 340,000 British and Dutch citizens out of pocket. Both Britain and the Netherlands reimbursed their citizens’ deposits and are still seeking repayment. Voters rejected the government-backed deal to repay them last year in a referendum, sending the dispute to an international court.
