An openly gay female politician is considered the most likely candidate to step into an interim prime minister position in Iceland.

Gay weekly The Washington Blade is reporting that openly lesbian Johanna Siguroardottir, a member of the Icelandic Parliament since 1978, will most likely take over the position of prime minister being vacated by Geir Haarde, who stepped down last week amid intense pressure to solve the country's financial crisis.

“If Siguroardottir does become prime minister,” daily newspaper the Icelandic Review reported, “she will be the first woman to serve as prime minister in the country's history and also the fist openly gay prime minister in the world.”

Iceland does have a president, but the position is considered mostly symbolic.

Siguroardottir's government profile includes personal details about her life, including her marriage to writer and playwright Jonina Leosdottir. She is the mother of two adult sons from a previous marriage.

Siguroardottir, the country's Social Affairs Minister, has a storied background of middle-class mom goes to Reykjavik and does good. Free from familial political connections, she is seen as a trusted ally of the people, a fact born out in her whopping 73% approval rating, making her the most popular minister in the country.

Her consideration is the result of the collapse of Iceland's coalition government. Prime Minister Haarde, head of the Independence Party, on Monday called for elections for May amid boisterous demonstrations over an economy in tailspin that has decimated the standard of living for the average Icelander, The Associated Press reports. The country's currency, the krona, continues to plummet.

Haarde, who is battling cancer, also decided to step down.

The remnants of the political parties said they would form a new interim government that would rule until the May elections are held. The strongest party, the Social Democratic Alliance Party, has proposed Siguroardottir to be appointed interim prime minister.

“If she is gay, that is not an issue at all,” said Olafur Sigurdsson, deputy chief of mission at the Icelandic Embassy in Washington. “We are very liberal in that sense. It has never been an issue for her as a politician.”