He was ultra-favorite: Iceland triumphantly re-elected its outgoing president Gudni Johannesson for four years on Saturday, with more than 92% of the vote, according to the final results of the presidential election published on Sunday.
In this single-round universal suffrage, this former history professor at the university collected 92.2% of the 168,821 votes cast, compared with 7.8% for his populist right-wing opponent, Gudmundur Franklin Jonsson.
An overwhelming trend that has been uniform in Reykjavik and in all regions of Iceland. Turnout came down to 66.9%, compared to 75.7% in 2016 during the first election of Johannesson, and 69.3% in 2012.
This democratic victory with an almost dictatorial score had been predicted by the polls, which in recent weeks had credited the outgoing president with between 90 and 94% of the voting intentions. It is the second highest score in a presidential election in Iceland.
Choice of continuity With Gudni Johannesson, the volcanic island of 365,000 inhabitants made the choice of continuity, twelve years after the spectacular bankruptcy of its banks in 2008, and at the dawn of a new global economic crisis due with coronavirus.
“I am honored and proud,” said the winner to AFP on the sidelines of his election night at the Grand Hotel in Reykjavik. “For me, the result of this election is proof that my fellow citizens approved my conception of this office. And gave me a mandate to continue to exercise my role in the same way as for the past four years, “he said.
His opponent Gudmundur Jonsson quickly recognized his defeat. “I send my congratulations to Gudni and his family,” he said, acknowledging that he never really thought he would score in double digits.
“Easy choice”
In the parliamentary system of the Nordic island, the head of state has an essentially ceremonial role. It has only one real power, and it is important: a constitutional right to block the enactment of a law and submit it to a referendum.
It was in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis that this form of presidential veto had been used for the first time. Conservative President Olafur Grimsson had launched two referendums, in 2010 and 2011, on an agreement to compensate foreign customers injured by the bankruptcy of their bank, Icesave.
Gudni Johannesson, youngest president elected since independence in 1944, has enjoyed strong popularity since taking office in 2016. “I think it was the easiest choice in my life to vote. I had decided for a long time, ”told AFP one of her voters, Ragnhildur Gunnlaugsdóttir, 47. “Why change when it’s good,” says Helga Linnet, another 46-year-old voter.
Unlike his predecessor Grimsson, who did not hesitate to fuel partisan controversy, Gudni Johannesson insisted on consensus during his tenure at the presidential residence in Bessastadir.
More active presidential office
His only rival Gudmundur Jonsson struggled to unite with his polemical side. Managing a hotel in Denmark from Iceland, this 56-year-old ex-stockbroker on Wall Street entered politics in 2010 by creating the right-wing populist party Haegri Graenir.
In a country where the bulk of power rests on the government and the current left-wing Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, the opponent Jonsson wanted to make the presidential function more active, for example by using the referendum more. Which for many would be a departure from tradition. “I don’t really like this because the president in Iceland has a ceremonial role and not a political one,” said Audunn Gisli Arnason, one of the voters interviewed by AFP before the vote.
First woman president
Iceland stands out in world electoral history for having been the first country to elect a woman president in 1980, in the person of Vigdis Finnbogadottir, in office from 1980 to 1996. She is the holder of the world record widest election, with 94.6% in 1988.
After Serbia last Sunday, and before Poland and France this Sunday, Iceland was the second country to hold an election since the start of containment measures in Europe. (afp/nxp)
Created: 28.06.2020, 02h59
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