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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail More Yahoo! Services Account Options New User? Sign Up Sign In Help Yahoo! Search web search Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Asia Pacific World Reykjavik's mayor puts comedian days behind AFP - 1 hour 19 minutes ago Send IM Story Print Reykjavik's mayor puts comedian days behind REYKJAVIK (AFP) - – He promised a polar bear for the local zoo, free towels at the city pool, but also that he would not keep his promises: "Best Party" chief Jon Gnarr now answers to the title of Reykjavik mayor -- but he has not put his comedian days behind him. Famous in Iceland for a stand-up routine in which he plays the perfect antihero -- an unlikeable fuel station owner -- the 43-year-old mayor is a fledgling politician. But he has an ambitious programme: to bring a smile to the faces of his constituents, who have been hard-hit by a deep economic crisis since 2008. "I wouldn't have run if there had not been a crisis," Gnarr told AFP in his light-flooded office at Reykjavik city hall, on the banks of Lake Tjoernin. "But I was just so fed up with how things had evolved here and I wanted to interfere in some way." "For me, it was a kind of civil duty. There's been so much anger, suspicion and paranoia in our society for the last two years. I wanted to help bring about an alternative," he explained. Just a few months after founding the Best Party along with a handful of other celebrities, the comedian with his shock of strawberry blond hair surprisingly swept the municipal elections in June. Broadcast as a music video on YouTube with a parody version of Tina Turner's "Simply the Best," his farcical platform called for introducing a polar bear to the zoo and handing out complimentary towels at the local pool. In classical politics, "there is a tradition of not doing what you've promised to do and to bullshit your way out of it," he analysed. "So we're trying to promise as little as we can and rather to do something," said Gnarr. "Anyway, we've also announced that we will not do anything that we've promised to do," he quipped. Ottar Proppe, a fixture on Iceland's music scene who was also elected as a Best Party candidate to the Reykjavik city council, says Gnarr and his party's success is an expression of Icelanders' deep desire for change. "People may not have had a big list of promises in front of them but they knew very well that they would be getting something different," he says. And there's no denying that Gnarr is different. Dressed all in black, an iPhone in his pocket and black leather boots resting on the coffee table, he makes bizarre statements punctuated by bursts of laughter. The mayor's next project? "To make Reykjavik a twin city of Mummin valley," an imaginary world filled with cuddly trolls and other creatures created by Finnish author Tove Jansson 70 years ago. And what of his Internet habits? "Mostly porn," he says with a laugh. As for his motto, it is of course "transparent corruption: we are going to be corrupt openly." Gnarr is certainly not afraid of making a splash. At the beginning of August he led a rambunctious Gay Pride parade through the Icelandic capital sporting a blond wig, bright red lipstick and wearing a floral-print dress with a large, bright yellow handbag over his shoulder. Gnarr, whose Best Party rules in a coalition with the Social Democratic Party, says Reykjavik is already "one of the best cities in the world and it will be the best," by putting pedestrians and families first. Starting his renewal project right at the city hall, the father of five says he wants to create a play area in the lobby. "This is a very boring and dull house. It's kind of dead. I would like to hear some music in the house and more life," said mayor -- who gave music a shot in his youth in a punk band called "Runny Nose". Though an unrepentant poor student in school, Reykjavik's mayor is self-taught and a fast learner, according to those who know him. His colleague Proppe describes him as "a great person to go to if you need fresh ideas. He's very quick at getting the whole picture and seeing through to what's important." The mayor himself remains humble about his role however, stressing that "there are some very qualified people who work for the city." "I really rely on them for counsel and help," he says. "Running a city is not a one man show." 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