Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir of the Independence Party was inaugurated as the new mayor of Reykjavík, and the fourth mayor of this term, at City Hall yesterday. Members of the Young Social Democrats and the Young Left-Greens organized protests.
With their actions, the protesters wanted to remind the new majority coalition on the Reykjavík City Council to focus on the issues, which they say is of greater importance than who gets to be mayor and who is leading different committees, mbl.is reports.
The protesters also made it clear that although they would let the developments in Reykjavík City take their course throughout the term, they would not forget it in the next city council elections scheduled for 2010.
When accepting the key to the mayoral office from her predecessor Ólafur F. Magnússon, Kristjánsdóttir said that she looked forward to taking on her duties as mayor of Reykjavík and that she wished Magnússon well in his future endeavors, visir.is reports.
According to visir.is, Kristjánsdóttir also thanked Magnússon for his cooperation although it had proven too difficult at the end. He had been unwilling to make necessary compromises with the Independence Party; the trust had perished and the administration of Reykjavík had been in turmoil.
“We in the Independence Party didn’t have a choice,” Kristjánsdóttir said, explaining that the current economic situation had called for a new majority coalition.
Kristjánsdóttir is the fourth woman to serve as mayor of Reykjavík after Audur Auduns, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir (current Foreign Minister) and Steinunn Valdís Óskarsdóttir.
Click here to read more about the situation in Reykjavík City Council.
