Great news from Iceland. After the ousting of premier Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and several other senior Icelandic politicians, elections were held and a fresh face was voted in. From Yahoo News/Agence France Presse:
Political novice wins Iceland presidency with 39 percent
History professor Gudni Johannesson won Iceland's presidential election after riding a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, final results showed Sunday, although the vote was eclipsed by the country's eagerly-anticipated Euro football match.
The political newcomer, who won with 39.1 percent of votes, was trailed by businesswoman Halla Tomasdottir, also without party affiliation, who took 29.4 percent, according to results announced on public television channel RUV.
Johannesson only decided to run for the presidency after the so-called Panama Papers leak in April which detailed offshore accounts and implicated several senior Icelandic politicians, including the prime minister who was forced to resign.
Throughout the campaign, Johannesson emphasised his non-partisan vision of the presidency, and vowed to restore faith in the political system after years of public anger toward politicians over scandals and financial woes.
The victory was especially sweet for the history professor and political commentator, who has never held public office and has no party affiliation, as he celebrated his 48th birthday Sunday.
And the EU?
Like most of Iceland's voters, Johannesson is opposed to EU membership.
In a final debate on Friday, he said Brexit changes "much for the better for us Icelanders," suggesting the European Economic Area agreement that non-EU members Norway and Iceland have with the EU could play a more important role with Britain on board.
Yes - Norway and Iceland are two very prosperous nations. No sense to have them dragged down to the least common denominator by nations like Greece. Having a common currency is not a good thing if one or more members spends themselves into poverty.
The people are revolting? Spend more money on social programs? Don't have it? Print more? This train of thought gets really stupid really fast.
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