Iceland- Social Democrats and Left-Greens entrusted with forming a government
Posted by seumasach on January 28, 2009
27th January, 2009
So Prez Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson summoned Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, head of the SDs, and Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, head of the LGs, to a meeting this morning, in which he entrusted them with the task of forming an interim minority government with the support of the Progressive Party. According to the president there is a possibility of one or two individuals from outside parliament taking a seat in the new government.
Ingibjörg Sólrún told mbl.is that she and Steingrímur would now start work on putting together a strong government that could be running the country by next weekend.
According to Fréttablaðið this morning there seems to be unanimous agreement for Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, minister of social affairs and social security, to head up the government. All the parties involved state that their primary emphasis will be on measures to help Icelandic families and households. The Progressive Party has also stipulated that it will support the new minority on the condition that the Central Bank’s governors and board are dismissed and replaced with new and able individuals.
~ A few people have wondered about the mood in this country since yesterday. I would say that the prevailing mood is one of apprehension – not of pure jubilation, as one might expect. Most people are wary – even though many MANY of us are hugely relieved to be rid of the Independence Party, it still remains to be seen what the others can and will do. For me, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is an unwritten page in terms of being an interim PM. There have been a few snide comments on this site and elsewhere about her CV, her former job as a “stewardess” and so on, which I think is completely unfair. She is a powerful politician, a clear-thinking and righteous individual who has shown that she gets things done. Her current popularity among the Icelandic population does not spring from nowhere – throughout the years she has demonstrated a rare integrity in her political work and since the bank collapse she is the only minister who has seemed to be getting anything done – working on behalf of the “little people”.
At any rate, I expect Davíd Oddsson and his clan in the Central Bank are clearing out their desks as we speak. My preferred candidate to head the Central Bank: Thorvaldur Gylfason. Fingers crossed.
In These New Times 
inthesenewtimes said
Alda’s question mark about what the new lot will do is to the point. But the movement on the ground has to start working out for itself what has to be done i.e. putting forward its own programme of action, if it hasn’t already done so. It has shown it has the power to force elections and remove one or two people, but eventually, as in similar processes in South America, the movement has to sharpen its appreciation of what is necessary and find the leaders to put it into practice. This process might involve working through several layers of “the political class”.
The recognition of a “rogue element” within the system, as Iris Erlingsdottir’s article
is one central focus for this programme.
The need to reconstruct a real economy i.e. one based on creating the goods and services which people need, not a fictitious bubble, and putting in place a financial system that will nurture it, is another.
Then there is the geopolitical question: NATO or West Eurasia. This also concerns the question of the Euro as well as bypassing the IMF, avoiding its destructive strictures, and seeking support elsewhere.
Can anyone enlighten me on what Voices of the People has put forward so far in terms of a political programme?