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Bjarni Benediktsson (born 26 January 1970), known colloquially as Bjarni Ben, is an Icelandic politician, who has served as the prime minister of Iceland since April 2024, and previously from January to November 2017. He has been the leader of the Icelandic Independence Party since 2009, and served as Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs from 2013 to 2017, a post he later retained under Katrín Jakobsdóttir and held until his resignation in October 2023. After serving briefly as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2023 to 2024, Bjarni became prime minister again on 9 April 2024.
Bjarni is popularly referred to as a "teflon" politician due to managing to retain his position as one of Iceland's most powerful politicians despite his frequent involvement in political scandals.[1]
Bjarni was born in Reykjavík. His great uncle was the former prime minister of the same name, Bjarni Benediktsson.[2]
After obtaining a law degree at the University of Iceland, Bjarni went on to study German and law at the Goethe-Institut and University of Freiburg, respectively, in Germany from 1995 to 1996.[3] The following year, he attended the University of Miami in the United States, where he earned a LL.M. degree. He then returned to Iceland, where he worked as an attorney.[4]
Bjarni entered the national parliament in 2003 and has been active in several committees in the areas of economy and taxation, industry and foreign affairs.
Bjarni was elected leader of the conservative Independence Party at its national convention on 29 March 2009 with 58.1 percent of the vote, about a month before the April 2009 Icelandic legislative elections.[5] The party came in second in the elections with 16 seats, nine fewer than in the previous elections. After conceding defeat on 26 April 2009, Bjarni said his party had lost the trust of voters. "We lost this time but we will win again later," he said.[6]
In the 2013 Althing elections on 28 April the Independence Party and their ally the Progressive Party each won 19 seats.[7] On 17 May 2013 Icelandic media reported that Bjarni would take up the position of Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs in a cabinet led by Progressive Party leader Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson.[8] In the 2016 Althing elections, the Independence Party won 21 seats, while the Progressive party only won 8. Shortly after the results, Prime Minister Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson resigned from his post. A new coalition between the Independence Party, the Reform Party and Bright Future was formed in January 2017 with Bjarni designated to become prime minister.[9]
As reported in 2016, Bjarni "shared what is known as 'power of attorney' over a shell company" involved in the Panama Papers.[10]
Bjarni came under criticism in January 2017 for not revealing a government report on the offshore bank activities of Icelanders before the 2016 parliamentary elections. Bjarni falsely told reporters that he had not seen the report prior to the elections. He later apologized for his "inaccurate timeline".[11]
Shortly before midnight on 23 December 2020, police in Reykjavík dissolved a gathering of 40-50 people at the art gallery Ásmundarsalur for breach of COVID-19 restrictions. Police report stated that a senior minister in the government had been present, later revealed to be Bjarni. At the time, COVID-19 restrictions limited gatherings in Iceland to ten people. The venue, which sells alcoholic beverages, was also not allowed to be open after 10 pm.[12]
Bjarni claimed that he had visited the exhibition with his wife to greet their friends and that he was only present for 15 minutes during which the number of guests increased. "The right reaction would have been to leave the gallery as soon as I realized that the number of people exceeded the limit. I didn't do that and I apologise for that mistake" he said in a statement posted on Facebook.[13] According to a source of the newspaper Vísir, Bjarni was however present for at least 45 minutes.[14]
Chief epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason said that Bjarni's actions set a "bad example" and he did not expect the public to perceive it well. Furthermore, he said the gathering had been a clear violation of COVID-19 restrictions.[15]
Bjarni became Prime Minister of Iceland on 11 January 2017.[16] In September 2017, the future of the Icelandic government and Bjarni's tenure as prime minister was put in doubt when the Bright Future party withdrew from the governing coalition. Bright Future did this in the wake of reporting that government ministers of the Independence Party had concealed that Bjarni's father, Benedikt Sveinsson, recommended that the criminal record of convicted child sex offender Hjalti Sigurjón Hauksson be erased.[17][18]
The Minister of Justice, Sigríður Andersen, had informed Bjarni about his father's involvement in the letter of recommendation in July, and refused to disclose the recommendation's author until compelled to by a parliamentary committee.[19][20]
In January 2017 he was named as the eighth hottest head of state in the world.[21]
After the 2017 parliamentary elections, Katrín Jakobsdóttir became prime minister, and in a coalition agreement, Bjarni became the finance minister again. Bjarni resigned on 10 October 2023, following the release of a report by the Althing Ombudsman which heavily condemned his conduct relating to the sale of state-owned shares in the bank Íslandsbanki.[22]
Only a few days after his resignation as minister of finance and economic affairs, Bjarni was appointed minister of foreign affairs. His predecessor in the position, Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir, was appointed his successor as finance minister.[23]
In a meeting of Nordic foreign ministers in Oslo, Norway in November 2023, he refused to condemn Israel's bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp on the Gaza Strip the preceding day, questioning whether it could be described as an "attack” Bjarni stated: "It depends on what you define as an 'attack'".[24]
On 9 April 2024, Bjarni became Prime Minister of Iceland following Katrín Jakobsdóttir's resignation to run for president.[25]
He began his second term with a 13% approval rating.[26] Bjarni faced a no-confidence vote on 18 April which failed 35 to 25.[27]
On 13 October, Bjarni announced that the government had collapsed due to disputes over foreign policy, asylum seekers, and energy, prompting him to call for new elections in November.[28]
The Ministry of Justice, under minister Sigridur Andersen, a member of Benediktsson's Independence Party, had initially refused to disclose who had written the letter of recommendation but was later ordered to do so by a parliamentary committee. Andersen told broadcaster Stod 2 that she had informed Benediktsson about his father's involvement last July, but had not disclosed that information to anyone else.
Even more damning is the fact that public broadcasting service RÚV now reports that the Minister of Justice, Sigríður Andersen, informed the Prime Minister last July that his father had provided this letter.
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