Gallimero
2nd Feb 2009, 07:37
Johanna Sigurdardottir, world's first openly gay leader, to take power in Iceland
by David Byers
The world's first openly gay leader is poised to take power in Iceland with the appointment of a lesbian former flight attendant as Prime Minister following the mass-resignation of the country's government.
Johanna Sigurdardottir, 66, is to become interim leader until new elections are held in May following the fall of the administration of Geir Haarde amid huge public protests about the country's economic crisis.
The country's social affairs minister, Ms Sigurdardottir has been installed as head of an interim centre-left coalition featuring her Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green movement.
"Now we need a strong government that works with the people," she told reporters, adding that her new administration was likely to be sworn in on Saturday.
Doubts remain, however, as to whether Ms Sigurdardottir can retain power after May's elections as her Alliance party trails the Left-Green movement in the polls.
However, her appointment marks a historic milestone for the gay and lesbian community worldwide. She lives with a journalist, Jonina Leosdottir, with whom she was joined in a 2002 civil partnership, and has two sons from a previous marriage.
It is also a significant personal triumph for a politician who managed to retain, and even increase, her popularity while much of Iceland's political class were pilloried over the financial crisis engulfing the country.
While Mr Haarde endured angry protests for months and had his limousine pelted with eggs, polling companies said Ms Sigurdardottir's approval rating sat at 73 per cent in November, and she was the only minister to see her popularity improve on the previous year’s score.
The new leader is known for allocating generous amounts of public funding to help the disabled, the elderly and organisations tackling domestic violence, and she is seen by many as a unifying character capable of solving tensions in Iceland.
Last week, in the run up to Mr Haarde's resignation, police in Reykjavik used tear gas for the first time in half a century to disperse gathering crowds. At their height, the protests involved 32,000 people – more than 10 per cent of Iceland’s population
"It’s a question of trust, people believe that she actually cares about people," Olafur Hardarson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland, said.
However, conservative critics say Ms Sigurdardottir’s lack of business experience and belief in big government will prevent her from fixing the economy. "Johanna is a very good woman - but she likes public spending, she is a tax raiser," Mr Haarde said.
After acting as a union organiser when she worked as a flight attendant for Loftleidir Airlines, now Icelandair, in the 1960s and 1970s, Ms Sigurdardottir was elected to Iceland’s parliament in 1978. She served as social affairs minister from 1987-1994 and again from 2007.
Undoubtedly, her main task will be stewarding the country's crisis-hit economy, which plunged into crisis after the almost overnight bankruptcy of Iceland's three main banks
Since then, Iceland has negotiated about £7bn ($10bn) in bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund and individual countries. The loans are currently being held as foreign currency reserves. Banks that were nationalised last year are once again open and trading, but Iceland still owes millions of pounds to foreign depositors.
Mr Haarde's administration became the highest-profile casualty of the crisis when it resigned en masse on Monday. He will not lead his centre-right Independence Party into new elections because he needs treatment for throat cancer.
Johanna Sigurdardottir, world's first openly gay leader, to take power in Iceland - Times Online (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5610520.ece)
and more:
BBC NEWS | Europe | Profile: Johanna Sigurdardottir (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7859258.stm)
by David Byers
The world's first openly gay leader is poised to take power in Iceland with the appointment of a lesbian former flight attendant as Prime Minister following the mass-resignation of the country's government.
Johanna Sigurdardottir, 66, is to become interim leader until new elections are held in May following the fall of the administration of Geir Haarde amid huge public protests about the country's economic crisis.
The country's social affairs minister, Ms Sigurdardottir has been installed as head of an interim centre-left coalition featuring her Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green movement.
"Now we need a strong government that works with the people," she told reporters, adding that her new administration was likely to be sworn in on Saturday.
Doubts remain, however, as to whether Ms Sigurdardottir can retain power after May's elections as her Alliance party trails the Left-Green movement in the polls.
However, her appointment marks a historic milestone for the gay and lesbian community worldwide. She lives with a journalist, Jonina Leosdottir, with whom she was joined in a 2002 civil partnership, and has two sons from a previous marriage.
It is also a significant personal triumph for a politician who managed to retain, and even increase, her popularity while much of Iceland's political class were pilloried over the financial crisis engulfing the country.
While Mr Haarde endured angry protests for months and had his limousine pelted with eggs, polling companies said Ms Sigurdardottir's approval rating sat at 73 per cent in November, and she was the only minister to see her popularity improve on the previous year’s score.
The new leader is known for allocating generous amounts of public funding to help the disabled, the elderly and organisations tackling domestic violence, and she is seen by many as a unifying character capable of solving tensions in Iceland.
Last week, in the run up to Mr Haarde's resignation, police in Reykjavik used tear gas for the first time in half a century to disperse gathering crowds. At their height, the protests involved 32,000 people – more than 10 per cent of Iceland’s population
"It’s a question of trust, people believe that she actually cares about people," Olafur Hardarson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland, said.
However, conservative critics say Ms Sigurdardottir’s lack of business experience and belief in big government will prevent her from fixing the economy. "Johanna is a very good woman - but she likes public spending, she is a tax raiser," Mr Haarde said.
After acting as a union organiser when she worked as a flight attendant for Loftleidir Airlines, now Icelandair, in the 1960s and 1970s, Ms Sigurdardottir was elected to Iceland’s parliament in 1978. She served as social affairs minister from 1987-1994 and again from 2007.
Undoubtedly, her main task will be stewarding the country's crisis-hit economy, which plunged into crisis after the almost overnight bankruptcy of Iceland's three main banks
Since then, Iceland has negotiated about £7bn ($10bn) in bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund and individual countries. The loans are currently being held as foreign currency reserves. Banks that were nationalised last year are once again open and trading, but Iceland still owes millions of pounds to foreign depositors.
Mr Haarde's administration became the highest-profile casualty of the crisis when it resigned en masse on Monday. He will not lead his centre-right Independence Party into new elections because he needs treatment for throat cancer.
Johanna Sigurdardottir, world's first openly gay leader, to take power in Iceland - Times Online (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5610520.ece)
and more:
BBC NEWS | Europe | Profile: Johanna Sigurdardottir (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7859258.stm)