President of Iceland
The President of Iceland (Icelandic: Forseti Íslands ) is the elected head of state of Iceland.
Since independence from Denmark in 1944 there were five presidents, first president was Sveinn Björnsson, the current mandate holder is Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson, who came to this office in 1996. The seat of the President is located in Bessastaðir in Álftanes. By 1973, the seat of the President was the Alþingishúsið.
Conditions for a choice
Each candidate requires a number from 1,500 to 3,000 voting supporters and must generally entitled to vote and at least 35 years of age.
Choice
The President is elected by universal, direct and secret ballot by a simple majority for a term of four years. If there is only one candidate, is a silent option instead, that is, a ballot shall be severed and the candidate only needs to officially declare the official acceptance. The number of terms a president is not limited by the Constitution.
Powers
The President has extensive powers under the Constitution: he appoints and dismisses without parliamentary vote, members of the government, Iceland represents international law and exercise the legislation from Parliament together with the Althing. The latter point is manifested in a limited right of veto. While laws may also enter into force without its consent, but they must then be immediately subjected to a plebiscite. This can only be done once per legislative period.
In fact, the President traditionally limited to representative tasks and appoint those to the Prime Minister, the majority has named in Parliament. When in 2005 President Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson its veto power made use for the first time in the history of Icelandic democracy, him that right was promptly denied by respected constitutional lawyers, among others, with the argument that the traditional political abstinence of officers have established a constitutional reality, which precedes the letter of the Constitution. The bill was ultimately withdrawn to a vote, it did not come.
The Icelandic Constitution stipulates that the president's powers pass to the Prime Minister, the President of Althingi and the President of the Supreme Court, if the President can not exercise his office on site, such as when traveling or surgery under anesthesia.
Terms
All Icelandic president who held office several terms. Sveinn Björnsson, the first president, was first elected for one year and died during his second four -year term. The following him Ásgeir Ásgeirsson officiated sixteen, Kristján Eldjárn twelve years. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the first democratically elected president in a woman of the world, appeared no more after four terms. In the 1996 election, Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson prevailed with 41 percent of the vote. 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012, he was re-elected.
1944 | 19451 | 19491 | 1952 | 19561 | 19601 | 19641 | 1968 | 19721 | 19761 | 1980 | 19841 | 1988 | 19921 | 1996 | 20001 | 2004 | 20081 | 2012
1 Stille choice