Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09REYKJAVIK28
2009-02-05 17:23:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Reykjavik
Cable title:  

ICELAND: LEFTIST GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER THE REINS; BIO

Tags:  PGOV PINR IC 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4023
OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHRK #0028/01 0361723
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 051723Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3976
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 REYKJAVIK 000028 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EUR/NB, INR-B

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR IC
SUBJECT: ICELAND: LEFTIST GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER THE REINS; BIO
SKETCHES OF NEW CABINET

Ref: Reykjavik 20 and previous

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 REYKJAVIK 000028

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EUR/NB, INR-B

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR IC
SUBJECT: ICELAND: LEFTIST GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER THE REINS; BIO
SKETCHES OF NEW CABINET

Ref: Reykjavik 20 and previous


1. (U) Summary: After a week of negotiations, Iceland's Social
Democratic Alliance and Left-Green Movement announced a minority
government on February 1. The new government, dependent upon the
centrist Progressive Party for support, is headed by SDA Prime
Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland's first female PM. The
cabinet is gender-balanced and split equally between the two
parties, with two ministers drawn from outside politics. The
leftist government will have roughly 80 days to implement its
domestic- and economics-focused agenda before early parliamentary
elections on April 25. End Summary.


2. (U) One day after the collapse of the Independence Party (IP)
and Social Democratic Alliance (SDA) coalition on January 26,
Iceland's President asked the country's two leftist parties -- the
SDA and the Left-Green Movement (LGM) to form a minority coalition
with the support of the Progressive Party. The SDA and LGM agreed
quickly on the broad outlines of their cabinet and their desire to
focus on domestic economic issues ahead of early elections at the
end of April. However, talks slowed down over Progressive Party
(PP) demands that the economic plan be more detailed.


3. (U) On February 1, the SDA and the LGM announced the makeup of
their minority coalition with the support of the PP. Current seat
allocations in the Althingi (parliament) mean that the SDA and LGM
require nearly 100 percent support from the Progressives to pass
legislation during the remainder of the legislative session. There
are 10 ministers in the cabinet, as opposed to 12 in the previous
cabinet. Notably, there are two non-party affiliated ministers: the
Minister of Commerce and the Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical
Affairs. Also of note is the absence of SDA Chair and previous
Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, who has announced she
will take at least a month of medical leave to recover from
treatment for a benign brain tumor. Gisladottir remains SDA Chair,
however, and says she has no plans to retire from politics.


4. (U) Returning ministers in the government are: Prime Minister
Johanna Sigurdardottir (SDA, previously Minister of Social Welfare);
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Industry Ossur Skarphedinsson (SDA,
previously Minister of Industry); and Minister of Transport and

Communications Kristjan Moller. Biographical summaries of the new
ministers follow.


5. (U) Asta R. Johannesdottir (SDA) is the Minister of Social
Affairs and Social Security. She was born in 1949 and has been an MP
since 1995, first for the National Awakening party and then for the
SDA. She studied Social Sciences and English at the University of
Iceland in 1969-1973, but did not graduate. She has also studied
German in Germany and taken tourist guide courses at the University
of Iceland and in Spain. Johannesdottir has also taken several
Management seminars at the University of Iceland and at the
Technological Institute of Iceland. Johannesdottir has been a Head
of Division at the Social Insurance Administration, a tour guide, a
flight attendant, a teacher, a DJ, and has produced radio and
television programming for the National Broadcasting Company.


6. (U) Steingrimur J. Sigfusson (LGM) is the Minister of Finance,
Fisheries, and Agriculture. He was born in 1955 and has been an MP
since 1983, first for the People's Alliance and later for the LGM.
He studied geology at the University of Iceland and received his
teaching certificate from the same university in 1981. In addition
to working in his chosen field of geology he was also employed as a
television sportscaster for the National Broadcasting Company from
1982 to 1983, when he first won a parliamentary seat in the Althingi
as a member of the People's Alliance. He was the Minister of
Agriculture and Communications in 1988-1991. Sigfusson founded the
Left-Green Movement in 1999 and has been its Chairman since.


7. (U) Ogmundur Jonasson (LGM) is the Minister of Health. He was
born in 1948 and has been an MP since 1995, first for the People's
Alliance and Independents, and then for the LGM. He studied history
and political science at the University of Edinburg. He has been a
teacher, a reporter for the National Broadcasting Company, and
Chairman of the Federation of State and Municipal Employees, one of
Iceland's largest labor unions.


8. (U) Katrin Jakobsdottir (LGM) is the Minister of Education. She
was born in 1976 and has been an MP for the LGM since 2007.
Jakobsdottir is Deputy Chair of the LGM. She studied Icelandic
language and literature at the University of Iceland. She has been a
teacher, a university lecturer, an alternate Reykjavik City
Councilor, and has worked as a television producer and journalist.


9. (U) Kolbrun Halldorsdottir (LGM) is the Minister for the
Environment. She was born in 1955 and has been an MP for the LGM
since 1999. Before taking a seat in Parliament, she was a theater

REYKJAVIK 00000028 002 OF 002


actor and director. She also worked for the National Broadcasting
Company as a radio personality.


10. (U) Ragna Arnadottir (non-party affiliated) is the Minister of
Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs. She was born in 1966 and studied
law at the University of Iceland and at Lund University in Sweden.
Before becoming minister she worked as an adviser for the Nordic
Council, and as a committee secretary for the Parliament. Arnadottir
is now on leave from her position as Legal Office Director and
Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, but
immediately prior to becoming the Minister of Justice she had been
seconded to the Prime Minister's Office as an Office Director and
Deputy Permanent Secretary.


11. (U) Gylfi Magnusson (non-party affiliated) is the Minister of
Commerce. He was born in 1966 and studied business administration at
the University of Iceland and economics at Yale University. He has
worked for the Competition Authority and the University of Iceland
Institute of Economics, and he is currently on leave from his
position as associate professor of business administration at the
University of Iceland.

VAN VOORST