Women Reach for Power in Iceland

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Now Iceland's women are rising to the top ranks—in politics, too—and they want to make everything better. Writer Hallgrimur Helgason says the new star is Johanna Sigurdardottir, 66, a Social Democrat, who had previously been known to most Icelanders as an honest and unimposing politician. "My time will come," she once railed at her opponents angrily almost 20 years ago.

At the start of February, she replaced Haarde, becoming the country's de facto bankruptcy manager and also Iceland's first female prime minister. The Social Democrat is seen as the personification of trust-building measures. According to public opinion polls, a clear majority—60 to 70 percent depending on the pollster—would like to see Johanna Sigurdardottir lead the country after Saturday's election, regardless of what parties wind up forming a government coalition.

"The people here are really tired, they distrust the old system," says Hallgrimur, who already wrote years ago about failure and people who go astray in Iceland with his novel "101 Reykjavik." "Johanna surprised all of us," he says.

The elegant, white-haired woman has been a member of parliament for 31 years and has served as minister for social affairs several times. And yet she still embodies the desire of Icelanders for a new beginning. She hasn't been tainted by scandals and sleaze, and she also promotes trust, modesty and people skills. Since taking office almost three months ago, she hasn't given any newspaper or television interviews.

Women Symbolizing Change

She's not hunting for headlines, but has made them anyway, as an open lesbian. In surveys, her Social Democrats are currently polling at around 35 percent, an all time high for the party. The Independent Party, which was in power uninterrupted for almost 18 years, is at 26 percent. There is much talk in Iceland these days of a new culture and new values—of a change. Women want to become the symbol of it. The managers put in place to, at least temporarily, lead two of the country's collapsed banks, Glitner and Landsbanki, are women. And five of 11 members of Johanna's interim cabinet are female—a higher number than ever before in Reykjavik's ministries.

The new education and science minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir, 33, is one of them. She is deputy head of the left-wing Greens and together with Finance Minister Steingrimur J. Sigfusson is to lead her party into a coalition together with the Social Democrats.

Steingrimur is an old political warhorse and ex-Marxist—a relic of political history who is now trying to save capitalism. "Someone's got to do it," says Steingrimur, a pragmatist like many of his countrymen. He's already proved that he's capable of it. In 1988, the country fell into a slump after having enjoyed an unprecedented economic boom. Exports and economic growth plunged, as did the value of the krona.

As farming minister, Steingrimur helped to push inflation back down and to lay the ground for what became the Icelandic success story. "I've proved that I can do it," he says with manly self-confidence. He adds that he was also proved right in his warnings in a book three years ago about the risky financial course the country was taking. "We were the fiercest critics of the ideology that led to the collapse," he says, "now we're paying the price for that."

Steingrimur is leading the party with his experience and confidence. But without his wife by his side, the Greens would scarcely be at their current levels of 26 to 28 percent in opinion polls. They are well placed to continue their current temporary coalition with the Social Democrats as a stable government after the election. Katrin, the education minister, is an important guarantor of that. She adds green color and symbolizes the new beginning. She has only had a parliamentary seat for the past two years and she's already setting the tone. She's demanding a real change in values.

"The crisis management must be green," she says and pledges to use Iceland's virtually inexhaustible natural resources for the recovery—hydro energy and geothermal energy for example, and the country's pristine natural beauty to attract tourists. Are women better at governing? "We had become too accustomed to old structures," she says.

The managers of Audur Capital agree. They want economic success but not at any price. "We don't want to invest in things we don't understand," says Halla. Her partner Kristin, 43, adds that they don't want to engage in business deals "that will be at other people's expense tomorrow."

The two of them collaborated with eccentric pop diva Björk to set up a fund named after the singer which aims to invest in sustainable environmental projects and local cultural enterprises. Profits with principles.

Women such as Halla are calling for a "new equilibrium" for the country. "That's got nothing to do with feminism," she adds hurriedly. "I want to do things not for women, but for all of society."

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