Icelandic presidential election, 2012
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Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Independent
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Independent
Presidential elections were held in Iceland on 30 June 2012. The result was a victory for the incumbent Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who defeated his nearest rival Thóra Arnórsdóttir by nearly 20% of the vote, and went on to serve a record fifth term as president of Iceland.
There were six candidates, but the election became a contest between the incumbent President, and the journalist Thóra Arnórsdóttir, who wanted to return the presidency to a more ceremonial role.
Main candidates:
Others:
Two other candidates declared their intent to stand in the election, but later dropped out:
After trailing in the opinion polls, Ólafur resorted to a negative campaign against Thóra, saying she would be "dangerous for the country" and that she would "do nothing but follow the government's will, particularly in terms of foreign policy", in continuing its membership application to the European Union being pursued by the current government led by Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir's Social Democratic Alliance, and he had reservervations about the prospect of being a member of the EU. He also accused the Icelandic media of giving Thóra preferential treatment. Ólafur also claimed to be the best person to steer Iceland through financial crisis. Thóra also accused Ólafur of distorting the president's role from that of a figurehead to a more political position and that she would return the post to its ceremonial stature instead of getting involved in politics. However, Ólafur was said to be popular because of the two referenda Iceland held over the financial crisis and, as a result, many Icelanders felt he was looking out for their interests after being seen to have stood up to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands over Icesave repayments.
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Wikipedia