President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (b. 1943 ) is expected to announce, in his traditional New Year’s Eve speech, whether he is going to run for a record fifth term. He has served as President of the Republic of Iceland since 1996, elected from a field of four candidates with 42 percent of the total votes. In 2004 he received the vote of just 42.5% of the population when two minor candidates opposed him.
President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson with former Landsbanki managing director Halldór Kristjánsson and former Landsbanki Chairman Björgólfur Gudmundsson
Ólafur Ragnar has been a controversial figure in an office, which is mainly ceremonial, meant to symbolize national unity and bears little responsibility for government affairs. He was criticized in the report written after the economic collapse of Iceland for cozying up to Icelandic businessmen, many of whom are now under investigation.
Ólafur Ragnar is married to Israeli-born Dorrit Moussaieff.
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