On Sunday, RUV announced entrepreneur Halla Tomasdottir as the newly elected Iceland’s president, succeeding Gudni Johannesson in the ceremonial role. The 55-year-old Tomasdottir won 34% of the votes in Saturday’s election. She defeated former PM Katrin Jakobsdottir, who resigned in April to run for president and received 25% votes.
The Icelandic president is elected for a four-year term has limited political authority functions as a unifying figure for the nearly 400,000 citizens of this NATO member nation. Tomasdottir will be Iceland’s eighth president since the republic was founded in 1944. She had run for president eight years ago and finished second to Johannesson. August 1st is when she is expected to start her new job.
Tomasdottir, a former head of Iceland’s Chamber of Commerce, founded Audur Capital in 2007 to bring social responsibility and female perspectives to finance. According to the World Economic Forum, Iceland has been the top country for gender equality for the past 14 years.
Traditionally, the presidents of Iceland have adopted a non-political role during their tenure in office. In recent years, the country has experienced a few volcanic eruptions around Reykjavik. These resulted in indefinite evacuations around the erupting sites.
