A poll conducted by MMR shows that 15.4 percent of Icelanders see President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson as a symbol of unity for the nation. By comparison, only one percent of respondents saw Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson as a symbol of unity while he served as president in 2009.
Participants were asked if they could think of anyone in Icelandic society whom they saw as a symbol of unity.
Former president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir came in second after Guðni as a symbol of unity, and she is the only person to make it to the list both in 2009 and now, the only two years such a poll has been conducted. In 2009, she topped the list with 4.5 percent of nominations.
Left-Green Movement Leader Katrín Jakobsdóttir came in third this year, with 1.5 percent, and Independence Party Leader Bjarni Benediktsson came in fifth with one percent of nominations.
Photo: Tristán White/Wikipedia.
It’s interesting that all those mentioned most often as symbols of unity are elected officials, except for popular singer Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson (pictured above), who ranks fourth in the poll and was named by 1.1 percent of respondents.
All others nominated received less than one percent of votes.
The majority of respondents, or 68.9 percent, were unable to name a symbol of unity.
The poll was conducted September 20-26. The total number of respondents was 985, all 18 and older.
