Iceland gets new, left-leaning leader
While the gay ex-flight attendant is popular, her tenure is likely to last only until May elections.
REYKJAVIK, Iceland - Iceland's next leader is an openly gay former flight attendant who has parlayed her experience as a union organizer into a decades-long political career.
Both parties forming Iceland's new coalition government support the appointment of Johanna Sigurdardottir, the island nation's 66-year-old social affairs minister, as interim prime minister.
"Now we need a strong government that works with the people," Sigurdardottir told reporters yesterday, adding that an administration will likely be installed Saturday.
Sigurdardottir will lead until elections are held, likely in May. But analysts said she was unlikely to remain in office - chiefly because her center-left Social Democratic Alliance was not expected to rank among the major parties after the election.
She is popular in opinion polls, but her party trails the Left-Green movement, junior partner in the new coalition.
Iceland's previous conservative-led government failed Monday after the country's banks collapsed last fall under the weight of huge debts amassed during years of rapid economic growth. The currency has since plummeted, while inflation and unemployment are soaring.
Former Prime Minister Geir Haarde won't lead his Independence Party into the new elections because he has throat cancer.
While Haarde endured angry protests for months and his limousine was pelted with eggs, the polling company Capacent Gallup said Sigurdardottir was Iceland's most popular politician in November, with an approval rating of 73 percent.
"It's a question of trust," said Olafur Hardarson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland. "People believe that she actually cares about people."
Thousands have joined antigovernment demonstrations recently. Last week, police used tear gas for the first time in about 50 years to disperse crowds.
"People respect her because she's never been afraid of standing up to her own party," said Eyvindur Karlsson, 27, a translator from Reykjavik. "They see her as someone who isn't tainted by the economic crisis."
The new leader is known for allocating generous amounts of public funding to help the disabled, the elderly, and organizations tackling domestic violence.
Conservative critics say her leftist leanings and lack of business experience will hinder her in trying to fix the economy.
After acting as a labor organizer when she worked as a flight attendant for Loftleidir Airlines - now Icelandair - in the 1960s and 1970s, Sigurdardottir was elected to Parliament in 1978. She served as social affairs minister from 1987-94 and from 2007.
While a woman has served in the largely symbolic role of president, Sigurdardottir will be Iceland's first female prime minister.
