Minister for the Interior Ólöf Nordal has announced her intention to run for the position of vice president of the Independent Party at the party’s general meeting October 23-25, mbl.is reports. The decision was announced at her home Saturday. Ólöf served as the party’s vice president 2010-2013. She represented the Northeast district as member of parliament 2007-2009, and the South Reykjavík district 2009-2013. She didn‘t run for parliament in the last elections, but in 2014, following a battle with cancer, she took over as minister for the interior from Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir, the departing vice president of the party. In addition to running for the position of party vice president, Ólöf has decided to run for parliament in 2017.
She admits the Independence Party’s standing in polls could be better and needs to be addressed. “It’s essential that elected party officials have a good rapport with the people,” she said.
Ólöf stated she had discussed her candidacy with many party members, but insisted her decision to run was independent of the position of Hanna Birna, the departing vice president. Hanna Birna’s political stature has weakened following the so-called Leak Affair, in which sensitive documents regarding an asylum seeker were leaked from her ministry to the media. Ólöf doesn‘t exclude the possibility of others’ running against her. Hanna Birna announced Thursday that she would not be running.
