Andri Snær Magnason, celebrated author and environmental activist, will formally announce his bid for the Presidency of Iceland at an event at the National Theatre at 17:00. Andri Snær is perhaps best known for his fight to preserve the Central Highlands. He has worked with pop-star Björk to bring international attention to the issue. Andri Snær and Björk are among the founders of an environmental group Gætum Garðsins, which fights for the creation of a National Park covering the entire Central Highlands.
Read more: Video: Björk calls for global action to defend Iceland's highlands
More changes to the line-up of potential candidates
Meanwhile, the first person to announce his candidacy for the summer’s presidential elections has withdrawn. Þorgrímur Þráinsson, the best-selling author of novels for young teens announced in an oped for the local newspaper Morgunblaðið on Saturday that he would not be running in the summer’s elections. He argued he had “lost interest” in last few weeks.
Read more: What you need to know about the rapidly growing field of candidates for the president of Iceland
On Sunday, however one more long-shot candidate entered the fray. A 39 year old man, Benedikt Kristján Mewes told the local news site visir.is that he wanted to become the first gay president of Iceland. If elected Benedikt would also become the first foreign born president of Iceland. Benedikt was born in Germany moved to Iceland in 2001, and received Icelandic Citizenship in 2009. According to the Icelandic constitution it is not necessary to be a natural born citizen to run for president. Anyone who is older than 35 years of age, and has the right to vote in Iceland, is eligible to run.
Finally, an associate professor of history at the University of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, has announced he is seriously considering a presidential run. Guðni Th., who is a highly respected historian and author of several acclaimed works on political history, told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið the he had decided to give a presidential run a serious consideration after he was contacted by a large number of supporters.
Andri Snær Magnason, celebrated author and environmental activist, will formally announce his bid for the Presidency of Iceland at an event at the National Theatre at 17:00. Andri Snær is perhaps best known for his fight to preserve the Central Highlands. He has worked with pop-star Björk to bring international attention to the issue. Andri Snær and Björk are among the founders of an environmental group Gætum Garðsins, which fights for the creation of a National Park covering the entire Central Highlands.
Read more: Video: Björk calls for global action to defend Iceland's highlands
More changes to the line-up of potential candidates
Meanwhile, the first person to announce his candidacy for the summer’s presidential elections has withdrawn. Þorgrímur Þráinsson, the best-selling author of novels for young teens announced in an oped for the local newspaper Morgunblaðið on Saturday that he would not be running in the summer’s elections. He argued he had “lost interest” in last few weeks.
Read more: What you need to know about the rapidly growing field of candidates for the president of Iceland
On Sunday, however one more long-shot candidate entered the fray. A 39 year old man, Benedikt Kristján Mewes told the local news site visir.is that he wanted to become the first gay president of Iceland. If elected Benedikt would also become the first foreign born president of Iceland. Benedikt was born in Germany moved to Iceland in 2001, and received Icelandic Citizenship in 2009. According to the Icelandic constitution it is not necessary to be a natural born citizen to run for president. Anyone who is older than 35 years of age, and has the right to vote in Iceland, is eligible to run.
Finally, an associate professor of history at the University of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, has announced he is seriously considering a presidential run. Guðni Th., who is a highly respected historian and author of several acclaimed works on political history, told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið the he had decided to give a presidential run a serious consideration after he was contacted by a large number of supporters.
