Icelanders Don’t Want A “Philistine” Like Kári For President

deCODE chairman Kári Stefánsson was candid in a recent interview when he explained why he will not run for President of Iceland.

In a radio interview this morning, the final question posed to Kári was whether or not he will run for president. His response was blunt:

“Oh, no,” he said. “And those who mention me in this context do not know me. People don’t vote for philistines like me to be president, and philistines like me have no interest in being president.”

The hosts then asked him the same question, phrased slightly differently, by asking, “Don’t you want to be like Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson or Vigdís Finnbogadóttir?”, the current and former presidents, respectively. Kári declined to answer, saying he did not want to speak badly of heads of state.

However, he speculated that perhaps Icelanders had grown used to having Ólafur Ragnar as president, adding that he personally “could not care less”.

You can read more of Kári’s bon mots here, where he has lunch with author David Eggers and Grapevine’s own York Underwood.