As mayor, I’d like to remain true to myself. I’m trying to do my job as well as my conscience will allow. I take the trouble to go into the nitty-gritty of complicated situations, even if I find them basically dead boring. At all costs, I want to avoid inflicting any damage on our city through negligence, thoughtlessness, or sloth. On the other hand, it’s vital for me to have fun, and if I think of something hysterically funny, then I try to implement it. For example, appearing at official occasions in weird clothing or posting oblique comments on Facebook.
Politicians abroad are not generally aware of me. I know, for example, that Obama has been informed about the Best Party, but obviously this news has not made him fall off his chair. Certainly, Iceland is a small country, sparsely populated and far away, which is probably why foreign politicians tend to overlook or dismiss me as a naive buffoon.
My protest letter to the Mayor of Moscow, in which I criticized the ban on Gay Pride parades, was formulated with exquisite politeness. I have yet to receive an answer. I’ve also written to Obama, describing my ideas about Reykjavík as the “City of Peace” and asking him to keep us in mind as a locale for international peace gatherings. This letter I wrote to him as the most powerful man in the world, but also as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. I got no reaction from the White House either.
In my role as Mayor of Reykjavík, I regularly deal with Scandinavian politicians. These contacts are always nice and friendly, without them showing me or the Best Party any appreciable interest or seeking to have any personal conversation with me. The only political groups who wanted to know more about me were the Greens in Austria and the German Pirate Party. Maybe I spook foreign politicians a bit. They can’t anticipate what new crazy idea I’m going to come up with next and are scared that my antics might encourage people in their own countries to mimic me.
The only prominent intellectual who seems to have a genuine interest in me is the linguist and political maven Noam Chomsky. Chomsky makes no secret of the fact that he thinks I’m the best mayor ever—which of course is a great honor to me. When he was in Reykjavík as a guest, we met here at City Hall for a fruitful exchange of ideas, and since then we’ve stayed in touch.
At international conferences people generally place me with the Left, more or less. That said, I’m not inevitably invited to the compulsory dinner receptions, and when I am, it’s mainly thanks to representatives of grassroots movements who want to meet me. This has often led, both in Europe and in the States, to thrilling encounters, such as with people from the inner circles of the Occupy Wall Street movement. These contacts were, for whatever reason, never permanent, but I am neither bitter nor eaten up with resentment.
My contacts with representatives of other countries such as China, Russia, and the United States were always pleasant and uncomplicated. All of these ambassadors and consuls general have shown me respect and friendship. I had a particularly good rapport with the U.S. Ambassador, Mr. Luis Arreaga, who took up his post here at about the same time I took office—a really nice guy.
After the parliamentary elections in Italy in 2013, when the party of Beppe Grillo was able to win its legendary success, a few Italian politicians got in touch with me. Beppe Grillo himself and, not least, the people in his immediate circle had announced that I’d always been a driving force and a kind of role model for them and their party.
But of course I’m not a politician. I just got involved in politics. Now you might well say that as soon as you stand in a democratic election and get elected you’re a politician. I don’t know if I would agree with that. All in all, I’m probably something a bit like the Mars rover Curiosity. A reconnaissance vehicle on a distant planet. Is Curiosity a Martian? Did he become a Martian when he landed on Mars? How long do you have to spend on Mars before you can count as a Martian? These are good questions.