Valgerður Sverrisdóttir
Encyclopedia
Valgerður Sverrisdóttir (born 23 March 1950) is an Iceland
ic politician. She has been member of the Althing
(Iceland's parliament) for the Progressive Party
for the Northeast constituency since 1987 and was Chairman of the Progressive Party parliamentary group from 1995 to 1999, Minister of Industry and Commerce from 1999 to 2006, and Minister for Nordic Cooperation
from 2004 to 2005. She was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 15 June 2006 to 24 May 2007. She has been a member of the Progressive Party's central committee since 1983.
Geophysicist Grímur Björnsson revealed on the television news programme Kastljós that a report he had prepared, criticizing the placement of the Kárahnjúkar dam, had been stamped as confidential by his superior at the time. Minister of Industry Sverrisdóttir had subsequently failed to reveal the details of the report to parliament, as she was obliged to do.
Sverrisdóttir rejected all accusations, claiming the controversy was a last-ditch effort on behalf of the opposition to delay the flooding of the Hálsalón reservoir. The flooding of the reservoir, which was set to take place at the end of September of the same year, subsequently submerged a large section of the Icelandic highlands.
is the letter
edh
, which in Icelandic
represents a voiced dental fricative
, as in th in the English word "them."
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic politician. She has been member of the Althing
Althing
The Alþingi, anglicised variously as Althing or Althingi, is the national parliament of Iceland. The Althingi is the oldest parliamentary institution in the world still extant...
(Iceland's parliament) for the Progressive Party
Progressive Party (Iceland)
The Progressive Party is an agrarian, liberal and centrist party in Iceland. The party is a member of the Liberal International. Current chairman of the party is Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. He was elected on January 18, 2009. His predecessor was Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, who only served as...
for the Northeast constituency since 1987 and was Chairman of the Progressive Party parliamentary group from 1995 to 1999, Minister of Industry and Commerce from 1999 to 2006, and Minister for Nordic Cooperation
Minister for Nordic Cooperation (Iceland)
Iceland's Minister for Nordic Cooperation is a cabinet minister who takes on this role in addition to his or her departmental responsibilities. Since 1 February 2009 the minister has been Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir, who combines the role with her duties as Minister for the Environment.The Minister for...
from 2004 to 2005. She was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 15 June 2006 to 24 May 2007. She has been a member of the Progressive Party's central committee since 1983.
Controversy
In 2006, Árni Finnsson, chairman of the Iceland Nature Conservation Association, accused Valgerdur Sverrisdóttir of corruption for failing to reveal details of a report showing that the area on which the Kárahnjúkavirkjun dam was being built had active faults in the earth, While she was Minister of Industry and Commerce.Geophysicist Grímur Björnsson revealed on the television news programme Kastljós that a report he had prepared, criticizing the placement of the Kárahnjúkar dam, had been stamped as confidential by his superior at the time. Minister of Industry Sverrisdóttir had subsequently failed to reveal the details of the report to parliament, as she was obliged to do.
Sverrisdóttir rejected all accusations, claiming the controversy was a last-ditch effort on behalf of the opposition to delay the flooding of the Hálsalón reservoir. The flooding of the reservoir, which was set to take place at the end of September of the same year, subsequently submerged a large section of the Icelandic highlands.
Note on pronunciation
ðEth
Eth is a letter used in Old English, Icelandic, Faroese , and Elfdalian. It was also used in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages, but was subsequently replaced with dh and later d. The capital eth resembles a D with a line through the vertical stroke...
is the letter
Icelandic alphabet
The modern Icelandic alphabet consists of the following 32 letters:It is a Latin alphabet with diacritics, in addition it includes the character eth Ðð and the runic letter thorn Þþ...
edh
Eth
Eth is a letter used in Old English, Icelandic, Faroese , and Elfdalian. It was also used in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages, but was subsequently replaced with dh and later d. The capital eth resembles a D with a line through the vertical stroke...
, which in Icelandic
Icelandic language
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
represents a voiced dental fricative
Voiced dental fricative
The voiced dental non-sibilant fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound, eth, is . The symbol was taken from the Old English letter eth, which could stand for either a voiced or unvoiced...
, as in th in the English word "them."