Former Reykjavík mayor and author Jón Gnarr announced today that he will not run for President of Iceland.
Just moments ago, on television station Stöð 2’s Ísland í dag programme, Gnarr announced that he is officially not running for President of Iceland.
In the special edition of Ísland í dag, called by its English translation, “Iceland Today”, Gnarr hosted the programme, and had a couple guests on the show, whom he interviewed before he made the announcement.
When the announcement was made, he asked to be asked if he was running. He replied that while he was “very touched” about all the support he has received, he confirmed that he has ruled out running for president “at this time”, adding, “I hope this answers the question once and for all.”
Amongst his guests was his partner in the famed comedy team Tvíhöfði, Sigurjón Kjartansson. In keeping with the laid-back, comedic style the two are known for, Gnarr asked Sigurjón if he was planning on running, to which he said he was not, saying he intended to be “the first Icelander to announce he is not running for president.”
Journalist Viktoría Hermannsdóttir was the next guest on the show, wherein the two discussed the top news stories of the past week, including the death of David Bowie, and the three jailed Kaupthing bankers who were recently given a highly-criticised interview by the same television station.
Currently Director of Programming at the media company 365, which aired the announcement, Gnarr no longer has to worry about the competition. With elections coming up in a just a little over six months, so far only three people, Hildur Þórðardóttir and authors Elísabet Jökulsdóttir and Þorgrímur Þráinsson, have made official announcement of their candidacy for the position.
The former Mayor of Reykjavík seemed to have slowly warmed up to the idea of being President of Iceland. While giving a definitive no to the question in a Reddit AMA two years ago, he went into more detail last March on the matter.
“I shudder at the thought of becoming a part of the deplorable and pathetic culture which is the Icelandic political culture,” he said at the time. “I cannot be bothered to face the pushy guy again. I simply cannot let myself and my wife be treated like that again. I cannot let my son be treated like that. I have, therefore, decided that I will not run for the office of the President of Iceland this time around. Perhaps later. I appreciate all the friendship and respect shown to me.”
However, in an interview with RÚV last December, he said that he was “happy to be president”, adding that while he considered the office “exciting”, he was not sure whether he was completely ready to actually run.
Icelanders will go to the polls on June 25 to choose their next president.
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