Geir Haarde

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a family name, but this person is referred to by the given name Geir.
Geir Haarde
Árni M. Mathiesen
Personal details
Born
Geir Hilmar Haarde

(1951-04-08) 8 April 1951 (age 73)
Reykjavík, Iceland
Political partyIndependence Party
Spouse(s)Patricia Angelina (Divorced)
Inga Jóna Þórðardóttir
Alma materBrandeis University
Johns Hopkins University
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Geir Hilmar Haarde (Icelandic pronunciation:

ambassador of Iceland to the United States and several Latin American countries.[3]

Geir initially led a

Landsdómur
, a special court for such cases. He was convicted on one count, but acquitted of the most serious violations.

Life and career

Geir was born in the Icelandic capital

School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University and in economics from the University of Minnesota
.

Prior to entering the

Icelandic Minister of Finance from 1983 to 1987.[2] He was a member of the Althing for 22 years, 1987–2009. Geir was Chairman of the Independence Party Parliamentary Group from 1991 to 1998[1][2] and a member of the Alþing's Foreign Affairs Committee from 1991 to 1998;[1] he was Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee from 1995 to 1998.[1][2] He served as Minister of Finance from April 1998 to September 2005 and then as Minister for Foreign Affairs from September 2005 to June 2006. He was elected Chairman of the Independence Party in an uncontested election in October 2005, following the departure of Davíð Oddsson
.

Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, Geir Haarde, Donald Rumsfeld and Björn Bjarnason at the Pentagon in October, 2006

Following the announcement of Halldór Ásgrímsson's resignation as Prime Minister on 5 June 2006,[5] Geir succeeded him as Prime Minister on 15 June.[2]

On 23 January 2009, Geir announced that due to health reasons (malignant oesophageal tumour), he would step down as chairman of the Independence Party at the next party congress on 26–29 March 2009.[6] On the same day, he announced that an early general election would be held on 9 May 2009, in which he would not be a candidate.

Icelandic financial crisis

The end of Geir's tenure as prime minister was marked by the dramatic

Kaupthing
) all had to be taken over by the government as they were unable to roll over their loans.

On 26 January 2009, Geir announced that he and the Social Democrats would not continue in the coalition government.[7] He was replaced by Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir from the Social Democratic Alliance, formerly minister of Social Affairs and Social Security, on 1 February 2009.

Special tribunal

Geir was strongly criticised in the April 2010 report of the Special Investigative Commission into the financial collapse, being accused of "negligence" along with three other ministers of his government.[8][9]

On 28 September 2010, Iceland's parliament,

Landsdómur, a special tribunal to hear cases alleging misconduct in government office: it was the first time Landsdómur has convened since it was established in the 1905 Constitution.[11]

On 3 October 2011, in response to a motion by the

defence team to dismiss the case, Landsdómur voted to drop the two first charges against Geir Haarde, concerning "gross negligence" and "failure to have the financial risks assessed," but to continue with the case based on three remaining and lesser charges.[12]

At its 40th national convention on 17–20 November 2011, the Independence Party concluded that "accusations against Geir H. Haarde, the former leader of the Independence Party and former Prime Minister, constituted an abhorrent political trial. The convention declared its unequivocal support for Mr. Haarde while noting the serious precedent the parliament had set with its decision to prosecute."[13][14]

The trial began in Reykjavík on 5 March 2012.[15] Geir Haarde was found guilty on one of four charges on 23 April 2012, for not addressing the problems that Icelandic banks were facing or their potential consequences for Iceland's economy at cabinet meetings.[16][17] Due to his age, no previous criminal record and the acquittal of the most serious charges, Haarde was not sentenced in the case, and the Icelandic State paid his legal expenses.[18] Haarde decided, as a matter of principle, to refer the whole case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg; in November 2017, the court ruled against him.[19]

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c d Geir H. Haarde, Secretariat of Althingi, retrieved 29 January 2009
  2. ^ a b c d e Prime Minister of Iceland Mr. Geir H. Haarde, Prime Minister's Office, retrieved 29 January 2009
  3. ^ "Skrá yfir fulltrúa Íslands hjá erlendum ríkjum frá upphafi (Icelandic Representatives to other States)" (in Icelandic). Utanríkisráðuneytið (Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs). Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Troubled Viking". POLITICO. 5 November 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Icelandic prime minister resigns", BBC News, 6 June 2006
  6. ^ Kosningar 9. maí og Geir hættir, RÚV, 23 January 2009, archived from the original on 20 March 2009, retrieved 23 January 2009
  7. ^ Prime Minister Formally Tenders Government's Resignation, Prime Minister's Office, 26 January 2009
  8. ^ "Crisis Report: Icelandic Ministers Were Negligent", Iceland Review, 14 April 2010, archived from the original on 3 October 2010, retrieved 28 September 2010.
  9. ^ Helgason, Gudjon; Dodds, Paisley (28 September 2010). "Iceland Ex-PM Faces Possible Charges in Meltdown". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  10. ^ "Iceland's Former PM Taken to Court". Iceland Review Online. 28 September 2010. Archived from the original on 25 March 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  11. ^ "Islands tidligere statsminister stilles for riksrett". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway. NTB. 28 September 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  12. ^ "Two charges dropped (in Icelandic)". ruv.is. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  13. ^ "Draft political resolution of the 40th national convention of the Independence Party (in Icelandic)" (PDF). 20 November 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  14. ^ "Abhorrent political trial (in Icelandic)". Mbl.is. 19 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  15. ^ Trial of Iceland ex-PM Haarde over 2008 crisis begins, BBC News, 5 March 2012
  16. ISBN 978-3-319-52050-6
    .
  17. ^ National Public Radio 23 April 2012 (Broken link)
  18. ^ Iceland ex-PM Haarde 'partly' guilty over 2008 crisis, BBC News, 23 April 2012
  19. ^ Ćirić, Jelena (23 November 2017). "Breaking: Former Prime Minister Loses Case". Iceland Review. Retrieved 23 November 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Geir Haarde.
Political offices
Preceded by
Friðrik Sophusson
 Minister of Finance
1998–2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Foreign Affairs
2005–2006 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Iceland
2006–2009 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Independence Party
2005–2009 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geir_Haarde&oldid=1216000997"