MAIL Online: Iceland is set to appoint the world's first openly gay woman as interim prime minister - a former flight attendant who rose through the political ranks to become a cabinet minister.
Johanna Sigurdardottir, the island nation's 66-year-old social affairs minister, is the pick of the Social Democratic Alliance Party to lead an interim government.
Iceland's conservative-led government failed on Monday, after the country's banks collapsed under the weight of huge debts amassed during years of rapid economic growth. The country's currency has plummeted, while inflation and unemployment are soaring.
Sigurdardottir's appointment is expected to be confirmed within days by the new ruling coalition of the Alliance party and the Left-Green movement. She would lead Iceland until general elections, expected in May.
'She is a senior parliamentarian, she is respected and loved by all of Iceland,' said Environment Minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir, a fellow Alliance party member.
But conservative critics say her leftist political leanings are not going to help fix the economy.
'Johanna is a very good woman - but she likes public spending, she is a tax raiser,' said Geir Haarde, who quit as prime minister Monday, partly for health reasons.
Sigurdardottir faces the difficult task of repairing the nation's shattered economy and rebuilding public trust in government. Icelanders are deeply angry at their government for not reining in the country's banks and leading the once-prosperous nation into an economic nightmare. >>> | Daily Mail Reporter | Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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