65° - 01.07.1968, Side 22

65° - 01.07.1968, Side 22
President-elect Kristjan Eld jam and Halid ora. Photographer: Oddur Olafsson. Ambassador Gunnar Thoroddsen and Vala. Photographer: Olafur K. Magnusson. PERISCOPE Continued from page 5 wins out of a possible 14, and third was the Ice- landic Grand Master FriSrik Olafsson with 10 wins. * On June 24th and 25th the Spring Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the NATO countries was held in Reykjavik. The Final Communique stres- sed the need for mutual balanced force reduction in East and West. Anti-NATO forces in Iceland had prepared themselves for the event and at the opening ceremony, which was held in the Uni- versity Cinema, a small group of people carrying anti-NATO placards gathered outside the cinema. That demonstration was peaceful enough, but after the ministerial meeting had started in the University building a group of people made a sit-down demonstration on the steps of the Uni- versity. Some scuffling occurred when this crowd was being dispersed by the police. There were no further demonstrations. This meeting was the biggest international meeting ever held in Iceland and everybody seems to agree that its execution could not have been better. A great number of foreign journalists came to Iceland to cover the meeting and a special press-centre was established in Hagaskoli, a sec- ondary school close to the University. * After 16 years in office, President Asgeir As- geirsson decided to retire this year. A new presi- dent was elected on June 30th and will be in- stalled in office on August 1st. There were two candidates: Dr. Gunnar Thoroddsen, Icelandic Ambassador to Copenhagen, and Dr. Kristjan Eldjarn, Curator of the National Museum of Ice- land. For a number of years Dr. Thoroddsen, who is President Asgeirsson’s son-in-law, had been considered a likely successor to the presi- dency. Dr. Eldjarn did not appear as a candidate until President Asgeirsson announced his retire- ment. It was commonly considered that the race would be a very close one as both candidates were known to enjoy great support. Various in- fluential persons, such as Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, supported Dr. Thoroddsen, but the four political parties declared themselves neutral, thereby releasing their supporters to vote for whichever candidate they liked best. The result, however, caused some surprise as Dr. Kristjan Eldjarn was elected President in what might be termed a landslide. He received a total of 67.564 votes or 65.6 per cent of all valid votes cast. Dr. Thoroddsen received 35.438 votes or 34.4 per cent. The greatest surprise of the elec- tion was Dr. Eldjarn’s victory in Reykjavik, where he received 60 per cent of the votes, Reykja- vik having been considered a Thoroddsen strong- hold. 20 65 DEGREES

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