Saturday, June 30, 2012

Iceland votes in presidential election

Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson pictured with election challenger, Thora Arnorsdottir (file picture)

Icelanders are voting to elect a new president, with incumbent Olafur Ragnar Grimsson seeking a fifth, four-year term after 16 years in office.

His main challenger is seen as Thora Arnorsdottir, a journalist and mother-of-three standing as an independent.

Opinion polls in the run-up to the election suggest a win for Mr Grimsson. There are six candidates in all.

The presidency is a largely ceremonial post, but its holder's signature is needed for laws to come into effect.

President Grimsson, 69, has courted controversy by using this power three times to veto bills he disagreed with.

One such instance - his refusal to sign off plans to pay 4bn euros ($5.1bn, £3.2bn) to Britain and the Netherlands for debts incurred during the 2008-9 financial crisis - proved popular with Icelanders.

Ms Arnorsdottir, 37, a journalist working for Iceland's public broadcaster, has promised to return the presidency to its largely ceremonial role, after what is seen as Mr Grimsson's unusually political approach.

In May, she briefly interrupted her campaign to give birth to her third child.

In one poll published before the election, 57% of respondents said they would vote for Mr Grimsson, while 31% favoured Ms Arnorsdottir. Another survey gave Mr Grimsson 50%, and Ms Arnorsdottir 37% of the vote.

If elected, Ms Arnorsdottir would be Iceland's second female president since independence, after Vigdis Finnbogadottir, who was in office between 1980-1996.

Many top positions in Icelandic politics are already held by women, including the post of prime minister, occupied by Johanna Sigurdardottir since 2009.



Source & Image : BBC

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