Presidential candidate Þóra Arnórsdóttir, who is current President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson’s main competitor in the upcoming election on June 30, according to polls, opened her campaign office yesterday.
Þóra at the opening of her campaign office yesterday. To the left is her husband Svavar Halldórsson with their newborn baby girl. Photo source: Facebook.
When addressing her supporters, Þóra expelled Ólafur Ragnar’s hinting that she intends to be a show doll president, accusing him of demagogy, visir.is reports.
Þóra recently had a baby and temporarily withdrew from the spotlight. In the meantime Ólafur Ragnar launched his campaign.
Þóra said her policy is the same now as when she announced her candidacy. “The message is the same as it was in the beginning: we should try to unite the nation rather than further disagreement.”
She stated that it is the president’s role to protect democracy but not take an active part in debates. “That kind of president is not a show doll; Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was no show doll and neither was Kristján Eldjárn.”
“The president cannot dissolve parliament or appoint a new government outside parliament when he or she pleases. Such talk is demagogy,” Þóra said, referring to comments made by Ólafur Ragnar.
“The nation will have the opportunity to express its opinion of the current parliament and government in less than a year,” Þóra added of the parliamentary election set for 2013. “Those are the rules and they are to be respected.”
“Ólafur Ragnar decided to launch his campaign with a bang. According to his estimate, the current situation is one of emergency and uncertainty for Iceland’s sovereignty and the future administration,” Þóra continued.
“The truth is that the main factor of uncertainty and instability in the country’s administration is his own flexible interpretation of the president’s domain,” she concluded.
In a survey conducted by Capacent Gallup May 18-25, 45 percent of respondents said they intend to vote Ólafur Ragnar and 37 percent that they will opt for Þóra, Fréttablaðið reports.
Ari Trausti Guðmundsson enjoyed the support of nine percent of respondents but other candidates ranked way below.
Capacent Gallup called 1,350 voters at random and the response rate was 59 percent.
MMR (Media and Market Research) also published a new survey on Friday. In that survey, almost exactly as many respondents intend to vote Ólafur Ragnar and Þóra, each of them had a support rate of 41 percent.
The survey was conducted May 21-24 and 856 people responded to it.
Click here to read about another survey and other stories regarding the presidential election.
ESA
