Journalist challenges Iceland's president

Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, left, was first elected president  in August 1996 and has served 4 four-year terms [AFP]

Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, left, was first elected president

 in August 1996 and has served 4 four-year terms [AFP]

-Aljazeera
Icelanders have voted to elect a new president, with a 37-year-old mother with a newborn no political experience challenging Olafur Ragnar Grimsson as he seeks a fifth straight term.Polling booths closed at 2200GMT on Saturday, and the first results were expected about an hour later.Some 236,000 people were eligible to vote, with opinion polls in the final days of the campaign suggesting the 69-year-old Grimsson was headed for a comfortable victory.Thora Arnorsdottir, a journalist with no political affiliation called for a change after Grimsson's 16 years in power.
Arnorsdottir is seen as a fresh face at a time when many Icelanders clamour for a new breed of politicians to clean out the ranks following the country's devastating economic crash in 2008. She decided to run after reading an official report on the crash and found that, especially when it came to "ethics and our political system, ... nothing had really changed".Grimsson, a socialist, says his political savvy is needed as Iceland, which is recovering rapidly from its crash and already returned to growth, tackles thorny EU membership talks and an October referendum on a new constitution.


Turbulent economy
"Iceland is now at a crossroads. Behind us are difficult years. Ahead are decisions on the constitution and our relationship with other countries in Europe," the silver-haired president wrote in an article published in daily Morgunbladid on voting day."There is still turbulence in the continent's economy and in many areas ... The president ... shall assist the country in tackling the biggest issues; they will determine the fate of Icelanders for decades," he wrote.Grimsson is, like a majority of Icelanders, opposed to EU membership for fear the North Atlantic nation will lose its sovereignty.


The left-wing government applied, however, to join the bloc in 2009 after the financial and economic crash that saw Iceland's three biggest banks collapse and required a $2.1 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Arnorsdottir led in the polls initially, after Grimsson announced in January that he would not stand for re-election.But after a petition gathered more than 30,000 signatures, about a tenth of the population urging him to reconsider, he announced in March he would stand after all, and has since then led in the public opinion.


A former university professor who was first elected president in August 1996, Grimsson has served four four-year terms, but has to date only won two presidential elections: in both 2000 and 2008 he was the only candidate and was granted a new term without a vote. A former university professor, Grimsson will now begin a record fifth four-year term in office, though he has won only three presidential elections: in both 2000 and 2008 he was the only candidate and was granted a new term without a vote.Iceland has had five presidents since its independence from Denmark in 1944, three of whom have served four terms.