Davíð Oddsson
 Davíð Oddsson    ( politician) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 17 January 1948 Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Nationality | Icelandic |
| Alma mater | University of Iceland |
| Member of | US/Department/State/International Visitor Leadership Program |
| Party | Independence Party (Iceland) |
Davíð Oddsson is an Icelandic politician, and the longest-sitting prime minister of Iceland, in office from 1991 to 2004. From 2004 to 2005 he was foreign minister and as the chairman for the Independence Party from 1991 to 2005. Previously, he was Mayor of Reykjavík from 1982 to 1991, and he chaired the board of governors of the Central Bank of Iceland from 2005 to 2009.
Davíð's two governments were staunch allies of the United States and strongly in support of NATO. He firmly supported the actions undertaken by the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan and Iraq.[1] The collapse of Iceland's banking system led to vocal demands for his resignation, both from members of the Icelandic public and from the new Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, which resulted in his being replaced as head of the Central Bank in March 2009. Time named Davíð as one of the 25 people responsible the most for the crisis worldwide.[2]In September 2009 he was hired as the editor of Morgunblaðið, one of Iceland's largest newspapers.
Contents
Youth and early political activity
Davíð Oddsson was born in Reykjavík, the son of a doctor and a bank secretary. Initially, his interest was in acting; as a high school student, he attended acting classes in the evenings and appeared in a leading role in a performance of Ubu Roi, which was also broadcast on Icelandic television.[3] During his law studies from 1970 to 1976, he worked for two years for the Municipal Theatre of Reykjavík, and produced a humorous radio show. From 1973 to 1974 he was parliamentary correspondent for Morgunblaðið.[4] He received his degree from the University of Iceland in 1976.
Davíð was involved in politics since 1974; he was the youngest member of the Reykjavík City Council since 1974. On May 27, 1982, he became Mayor of Reykjavík and remained in this post until July1991. From 1991 to 2005 he was a member of the Icelandic parliament Althing.
Prime Minister of Iceland (1991-2004)
After the 1991 Icelandic parliamentary election, which brought the victory of Davíð's Independence Party, he formed a coalition with the Social Democratic Party and replaced Steingrímur Hermannsson in the post of Prime Minister of Iceland. He continued through various coalition governments.
In 2003, he led the liberalization of the banking laws in Iceland allowing less transparency which brought a huge amount of foreign money and high interest rates.[5]
He put Iceland on the Coalition of the willing, a group of countries who supported, militarily or politically, the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[6][7]
Towards the end of his term, he got into political difficulties. For the first time in Iceland's history, President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson refused to sign a law that had been passed by a majority of the Prime Minister's coalition. His health is also a problem for him, so he had to undergo two major operations. On September 15, 2004, he moved to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs. On September 7, 2005, Davíð announced that he would resign from his political posts and move to the head of the Icelandic Central Bank. Geir Haarde became his successor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as party chairman and finally as prime minister.
Head of the Central Bank
As head of the central bank, Davíð Oddsson came under criticism during the financial crisis in 2008, after the value of the Icelandic krona had more than halved within a few days in October 2008 and Iceland was on the verge of national bankruptcy. His resignation and that of the head of Government Geir Haarde were demanded at several demonstrations. The new Prime Minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, also called on Davíð to resign on 2 February 2009, the day after she took office. However, since the latter refused[8], the new government was prompted to change the laws on the Central Bank in order to remove Davíð from office: for example, the number of "governors" was limited from three to one plus deputy, and the head of the bank must have a university degree in economics in the future. On 26 February 2009, Davíð was relieved of his post in order to appoint the Norwegian economist Svein Harald Øygard as head of the Central Bank the following day.
Presidential election
At the beginning of May 2016, Davíð Oddsson announced that he would stand as a candidate for the presidential election. In polls in the run–up to the election, he was in second place for a long time – by a significant margin. However he came ultimately only in fourth place.[9]
Editor of Morgunblaðið
On 24 September 2009, the new owners of Morgunblaðið announced that Davíð Oddsson and Haraldur Johannessen, former editor of the business-oriented newspaper Viðskiptablaðið, had been hired as editors of the paper.[10] Since Davíð took over as editor-in-chief a third of Morgunblaðið's subscribers have cancelled their subscriptions.[11] In 2009, the paper lost 667 million ISK.[12] In the report of the Icelandic parliament's Special Investigation Commission, published in April 2010, the appointment of Davíð Oddsson as editor-in-chief of Morgunblaðið and the firing of many experienced journalists from the newspaper is mentioned as an example of how the owners of media in Iceland engage in manipulation for political ends. "Their objective seems to be to run an opinion journalism and protect special interests rather than ensure a professional and fair reporting."[13]
Events Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1987 | 24 April 1987 | 26 April 1987 | Italy Cernobbio | 35th Bilderberg, in Italy, 106 participants |
| Bilderberg/1991 | 6 June 1991 | 9 June 1991 | Germany Baden-Baden Steigenberger Hotel Badischer Hof | The 39th Bilderberg, 114 guests |
| Bilderberg/1992 | 21 May 1992 | 24 May 1992 | France Royal Club Evian Evian-les-Bains | The 40th Bilderberg. It had 121 participants. |
| Bilderberg/1994 | 2 June 1994 | 5 June 1994 | Finland Helsinki | The 42nd Bilderberg, in Helsinki. |
| Bilderberg/1997 | 12 June 1997 | 15 June 1997 | US Lake Lanier Georgia (State) | The 45th Bilderberg meeting |
| Bilderberg/1999 | 3 June 1999 | 6 June 1999 | Portugal Sintra | The 47th Bilderberg, 111 participants |
References
- ↑ http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=3466429
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111006171539/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350_1877340,00.html
- ↑ http://umanitoba.ca/admin/governance/senate/hdr/996.html
- ↑ http://www.althingi.is/altext/cv/is/?nfaerslunr=106
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100526053757/http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/profile-of-jon-asgeir-johannesson-of-baugur-48732.aspx
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2870487.stm
- ↑ https://www.visir.is/g/2005456289d
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111002012238/http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2009/02/09/david-oddsson-just-will-not-quit/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C6vc3xxyKY
- ↑ http://mbl.is/mm/frettir/innlent/2009/09/24/david_og_haraldur_ritstjorar/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111002120545/http://eyjan.is/2010/09/08/thridjungur-askrifenda-morgunbladsins-farinn-a-adeins-einu-ari/
- ↑ http://www.mbl.is/mm/vidskipti/frettir/2010/10/21/arvakur_rekinn_med_667_milljona_krona_tapi
- ↑ http://rna.althingi.is/html/vidauki1.html
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