Iceland: Halla Tomasdottir is New President
All three candidates who received the most votes were women
Halla Tomasdottir became Iceland’s new president after a vote, in which only women participated. Tomasdottir received 34% of the vote in the election on Saturday, June 1, beating Katrin Jakobsdottir, a former prime minister known for her feminist and progressive positions, who received 25% of the vote. In third place is Halla Hrund Logadottir, a Harvard scientist and lecturer, director of the Icelandic Energy Agency. The 78% turnout was the highest since 1996.
Iceland is an island located in the North Atlantic Ocean (between Greenland and Scandinavia, of which it is a geographical part), with a population of just under 400,000. The new president is a 55-year-old businesswoman, former Chamber of Commerce director and environmental activist. In Iceland, the president has ceremonial and symbolic significance, but also has the power to call referendums and veto laws.