Iceland PM to quit and wants May 9 election
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland's prime minister, under pressure from a financial collapse that left the economy in tatters and sparked violent protests, said on Friday he was stepping down and called for an early election on May 9.
After meeting senior members of his Independence Party, Geir Haarde, 57, told a news conference he was going abroad for surgery to treat a malignant tumour of the oesophagus.
"I have decided not to seek re-election as leader of the Independence Party at its upcoming national congress," Haarde said. A new chairman would lead the party in an early election although Haarde offered to stay on as prime minister until then.
Haarde, a U.S.-trained economist, said he had spoken to Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Gisladottir, head of the junior party in the ruling coalition, by telephone about a possible May 9 election and there would be further talks on the issue.
Gisladottir's Social Democratic Alliance has been pressing for an early election. She returned to Iceland on Friday from Sweden, where she was being treated for a brain tumour. She said she aimed to lead her party in the elections.
An election would not normally be held until 2011.
One political commentator said Thorgerdur Gunnarsdottir, deputy chairman of the Independence Party, would be likely to replace Haarde at the March 26-29 congress.
"As Haarde is leaving for treatment in the next few days, Gunnarsdottir is likely to take over his duties as (acting) prime minister," Einar Mar Thordarson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland, said.
Haarde has been under pressure since the global financial crisis hit Iceland in October.
It triggered a collapse in the currency and financial system under the weight of billions of dollars of foreign debts incurred by its banks.
Protests turned violent in the early hours of Thursday, with demonstrators pressing for Haarde, the central bank governor and other senior officials to go. Police used teargas for the first time since 1949 against demonstrators.
PROTESTERS KEEP VIGIL
About 100 protesters maintained a vigil outside parliament on Friday.
"We will not stop protesting because our main demand is that the government coalition should end. I don't think it's a coincidence that we were told today that Haarde has cancer. I feel our trust has been violated," dock worker Hinrik Thor Svavarrs told Reuters.
Haarde had earlier vowed to stay on.
As no party is expected to win an overall majority, a new coalition is all but certain.
Recent opinion polls indicate that the Left-Green Party, currently in opposition, is best placed to head a new coalition, possibly with Gisladottir's Social Democrats.
Steingrimur Sigfusson, the party's chairman, told Reuters he wanted elections as soon as possible and that he was prepared to become prime minister if his party wins enough support.
To stay afloat last year, Iceland negotiated a $10 billion (7 billion pound) aid package crafted by the International Monetary Fund and effectively froze trade in its currency.
Sigfusson said he wanted to renegotiate some of the most austere terms for the IMF-crafted aid package, but that he would do so responsibly and without haste.
"Now the people of Iceland have already experienced what some of these conditions mean, so I think we would be supported by many to try and reopen negotiations with the IMF to at least adjust these programmes better to Icelandic needs and circumstances," he said.
Sigfusson also said he would seek to introduce a bill to freeze assets of those most responsible for Iceland's crisis a measure popular with many voters.
The handful of market analysts still looking at Iceland's shattered economy saw little immediate impact from upcoming elections, with the crown currency still barely traded in international markets after last year's collapse.