Geir Haarde

Geir H. Haarde

Geir Hilmar Haarde [ ˈceɪ: r̯ ˈhɪlmar̯ ˈhɔrtɛ ] (born April 8, 1951 in Reykjavík ) is an Icelandic politician ( Independence Party ) and was Icelandic Prime Minister between 2006 and 2009 . From 2015 to 2019 he was Icelandic Ambassador to the United States and since July 1, 2019 he has been Executive Director of the World Bank .

Life and political career

Education and political entry

Geir Hilmar Haarde studied economics at Brandeis University in Waltham ( Massachusetts ) in the United States . He initially worked as an assistant to the finance minister and as a manager at the Icelandic central bank .

Member of Parliament, Minister and Party Chairman

Since 1987 he has been a member of the Icelandic parliament Alþingi . Between April 1998 and September 2005 he was Minister of Finance, then Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was elected Chairman of the Independence Party in October 2005 as the successor to Davíð Oddsson .

prime minister

On June 15, 2006 Geir replaced the politician Halldór Ásgrímsson in the office of Prime Minister.

In the Icelandic parliamentary election in May 2007 , he won the majority of votes with the Independence Party and formed a new government together with the Alliance .

In the course of the financial market crisis, which caused Iceland to experience massive financial difficulties in 2008, Geir came under domestic political pressure. In October 2008, protesters called for his resignation and that of central bank governor Davíð Oddsson . The largest demonstration to date took place on November 23. The protests took on an intensified form. On January 21, 2009, the prime minister needed police protection when leaving the official seat. He therefore announced his resignation on January 23, 2009, and new parliamentary elections for May 9, 2009 . On January 26, 2009, the Icelandic government announced its resignation after months of popular protests. Shortly after Geir's resignation, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was tasked with forming a minority government.

Due to a cancer operation, Geir handed over the chairmanship of the Independence Party to Bjarni Benediktsson at the end of March .

Condemnation

In September 2010 the Icelandic parliament decided to bring proceedings against Geir before the national special court of Landsdómur . This began on March 5, 2012. On April 23, 2012, the jury found Haarde guilty of one of several counts. In the run-up to the financial crisis, he did not obtain sufficient information and did not convene a separate cabinet meeting when the situation worsened. Since it is a formal offense, Haarde's conviction does not result in any penalty. Nevertheless, he announced his appointment .

Ambassador to the USA

Geir Haarde has been Iceland's ambassador to the United States since February 23, 2015 . His predecessor in this office was Guðmundur Árni Stefánsson , who took over the post of ambassador on October 1, 2011.

Web links

Commons : Geir Haarde  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Profile on the website of the Icelandic Parliament (Icelandic)
• Brief profile on the website of the Icelandic Parliament (English)
• Career, speeches and articles (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Large demonstration because of the financial crisis in Reykjavik: Resignation of the Icelandic head of government required. In: nzz.ch. October 26, 2008, accessed January 5, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Tagesschau.de : Thousands of Icelanders demonstrate against the government: "We had a good country and they ruined it" (tagesschau.de archive)
3. ↑ Financial Times Deutschland : Anger over the financial crisis: Icelanders chase the premier with snowballs ( Memento from July 30, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
4. ↑ New elections: Icelandic government announces resignation due to financial crisis. In: Spiegel Online . January 23, 2009, accessed January 5, 2017 . 
5. ↑ Iceland's ex-prime minister in court for financial crisis. In: ORF . March 5, 2012, Retrieved March 5, 2012 . 
6. ↑ Iceland's ex-Prime Minister Haarde convicted of bank crash at diepresse.com, April 23, 2012 (accessed April 23, 2012).
7. ↑ ^{a b} Skrá yfir fulltrúa Íslands hjá erlendum ríkjum frá upphafi (Icelandic Representatives to other States) ( Icelandic ) Utanríkisráðuneytið. Archived from the original on March 26, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2015.

Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .