Jón Gnarr invokes Georg in apparent jab at party leader

Jón Gnarr suggested that he would have preferred Viðreisn leader Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir not to be in his parliamentary group, mbl.is reported, referring to the character Georg Bjarnfreðarson from the television series Vaktin.

In an interview on the programme Spursmál, host Stefán Einar Stefánsson suggested that Gnarr had been like Ólafur Ragnar Hannesson in the group but would have wanted to be Georg, the authoritarian shift supervisor Gnarr played in the series. Gnarr rejected that interpretation.

“I am Ólafur Ragnar Hannesson, but I would have wanted Georg not to be there,” he said. He did not name anyone in the closing remark, but earlier said the party leader ultimately bore responsibility for the problems within the parliamentary group.

Gnarr had repeatedly criticised Þorgerður Katrín’s leadership during the interview and described conditions in the group as unbearable. He also agreed that strained relations between Þorgerður Katrín and Justice Minister Þorbjörg Sigríður Gunnlaugsdóttir were part of the circumstances he was leaving, calling the situation unhealthy.

“I’m just an employee on the forecourt, and I’m very happy with that,” he said. Gnarr has left Viðreisn’s parliamentary group but remains in the party and supports the government.