16. apríl 2004

Interview published in WE magazine

Who is Snorri Ásmundsson?
He is a grandiose, positive, and optimistic artist and political candidate.

What is your family situation? Do you have a foreign-born wife to show off at Bessastaðir [the presidential residence]?
I live a healthy Bohemian lifestyle and I live alone, but I have a good relationship with my daughter and her mother. Foreign women are often nice and attractive, but the one I meet most often is my friend Dorrit Mousaieff, someone I very much respect.

Why run for president?
I made the decision as a child, and am fulfilling an old dream. It turned out that I had to be 35 years of age to be president, and so have waited a long time for this opportunity. I am of the opinion that we should let our dreams come true. Of course I feel that I have a purpose at Bessastaðir and will in all probability bloom there. This means a reduction in
financial income for me and an increase in spiritual income for the nation.

It's been mentioned that you are not able to run for the presidency because you don't have a clean police record. Is there anything to this?
I have a clean record. Thankfully we live in a society where it is possible to purchase absolution if necessary. I am, though, a little surprised by disappointing sales, given what sinful people we all are.

Another story is that in your younger years you partied unreservedly and abused alcohol, though isn't it like that for all of us?
Yes, isn't it? We Icelanders are drinking nation and alcoholism has probably damaged every household in the country. I succeed in finding a way to abandon Bacchus and create a healthy lifestyle. It's an amazing kind of victory.

What are your primary political objectives?
Like I have often mentioned, I sometimes feel that the natural environmental resources of this country are promoted over the natural human resources. This disturbs me as we Icelanders are rich with talents of all kinds that we have yet to tap in to. The nation
needs to be awakened and our mindset changed, freeing us from the American consumer culture. Get the people to stand by themselves and live by our original and natural traditions, where the romantic ideal informs the culture. I want to encourage the existence of our people in a positive and constructive manner.

Isn't this all just a joke?
That's the question, and sometimes the assertion, that I think confirms a certain narrow-mindedness and judgment. I do think life should be entertaining.
Maybe sometimes I use untraditional methods that hinder those results, but that remains to be seen. People who want to dismiss my candidacy as a joke are, in my opinion, lacking open-mindedness.

Who will be the first to receive the Order of the Falcon when you get to Bessastaðir?
Stefán Tryggvi Brynjarsson, Dorrit Mossajeff, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Davíð Oddsson, Hrafn Jökulsson, Elísabet Ólafsdóttir, myself, my mother, my siblings, my friends, and all my voters.

Do you think you'll ever allow goose hunting on the Bessastaðir lawn?
Is it banned?

What will you change if you get to Bessastaðir?
The national reality would change quite a bit, and my reality also, of course. Icelanders will get in me a safety valve, someone who isn't always running to mommy. I would admit clearly if I felt I was in over my head. I am not coming from under the yoke of politics or business, and so have no specific investments in those areas to protect. Those who play
with other people's futures like a game of Monopoly have to watch out, otherwise they'll get themselves into a lot of trouble.

A presidential campaign like this must be extremely expensive. Who´s paying the costs?
I am an artist and to supplement my income I work in housecleaning, though I´ve recently given a few businessmen offers that they should find hard to refuse.

Why should the people elect you president?
I am presidential material, and I have my strengths and weaknesses like everyone else. At this turning point it would be very healthy for the nation to elect me as president.