President Refuses To Discuss Campaign Remarks

President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson will not comment on whether he will leave his office before his term is up, as he implied in 2012, nor will he comment on anything he said during the campaign season.

Over two years have passed since Ólafur was re-elected president, after a campaign season in which he issued a statement that, while announcing his decision to run for a fifth term, added the caveat that “when hopefully everything will become more stable, both regarding the Constitution and the situation in this country, people will have the understanding that I will not sit out all of next term.”

In light of the president’s annoucement last month that he would not seek a sixth term, RÚV contacted the president’s office to follow up on whether or not he intends to finish his term or depart early.

The president’s secretary, Örnólfur Thorsson, told reporters that the president would not be granting any interviews on this or any other subject regarding the 2012 presidential campaign season. Örnólfur added that he believes it was “very clear” that the president fully intends to finish his term.

RÚV says furthermore that the president has only twice this year spoken with them – once on the subject of the opening of a volcano museum in the Westman Islands, and during a public visit to Egilsstaðir.