REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP)– Icelanders elected to decide on a brand-new parliament Saturday after arguments over migration, energy plan and the financial state of affairs required Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson to finish on his union federal authorities and name a really early political election.
All poll terminals dealt with to open up despite robust local weather within the below-Arctic nation that left roadways in quite a few places obstructed by snow. Ballot- counting began after surveys shut at 10 p.m. neighborhood time (2200GMT), with outcomes anticipated early Sunday.
This is Iceland’s sixth fundamental political election provided that the 2008 financial dilemma ruined the financial state of affairs of the North Atlantic island nation and launched a brand-new age of political instability.
Opinion surveys advisable the nation could be in for another turmoil, with help for the three regulating occasions diving. Benediktsson, that was referred to as head of state in April adhering to the resignation of his precursor, had a tough time to carry with one another the unlikely union of his standard Independence Party with the centrist Progressive Party and the Left-Green Movement
“My expectation is like, something new (is) going to happen, hopefully,” stated Hörður Guðjónsson, voting within the capital, Reykjavik. “We always have had these old parties taking care of things. I hope we see the light now to come in with a younger people, new ideas.”
Iceland, a nation of about 400,000 folks, is pleased with its democratic traditions, describing itself as arguably the world’s oldest parliamentary democracy. The island’s parliament, the Althingi, was based in 930 by the Norsemen who settled the nation.
How does the election work?
Voters are selecting 63 members of the Althingi in an election that may allocate seats each by regional constituencies and proportional illustration. Parties want no less than 5% of the vote to win seats in parliament. Eight events have been represented within the outgoing parliament, and 10 events are contesting this election.
Turnout is historically excessive by worldwide requirements, with 80% of registered voters casting ballots within the 2021 parliamentary election.
Why now?
A windswept island close to the Arctic Circle, Iceland usually holds elections through the hotter months of the yr. But Benediktsson selected Oct. 13 that his coalition couldn’t final any longer, and he requested President Halla Tómasdóttir to dissolve the Althingi.
“The weakness of this society is that we have no very strong party and we have no very strong leader of any party,’’ said Vilhjálmur Bjarnason a former member of parliament. “We have no charming person with a vision … That is very difficult for us.”
< p course= “yf-1pe5jgt “>Despite the electoral headwinds, Benediktsson expressed confidence that his Independence Party may emerge on high.
“It was an uphill battle for my party, initially, but as we moved on into the election campaign, I think things started to turn our way and I feel that this will be a very exciting election day,” he stated.
Why is Iceland’s politics so fractured?
The splintering of Iceland’s political panorama got here after the 2008 monetary disaster, which prompted years of financial upheaval after the nation’s debt-swollen banks collapsed.
The disaster led to anger and mistrust of the events that had historically traded energy forwards and backwards, and prompted the creation of latest events starting from the setting targeted Left-Green Alliance to the Pirate Party, which advocates direct democracy and particular person freedoms.
“This is one of the consequences of the economic crash,’’ said Eva H. Önnudóttir, a professor of political science at the University of Iceland. “It’s just the changed landscape. Parties, especially the old parties, have maybe kind of been hoping that we would go back to how things were before, but that’s not going to happen.”
What are the problems?
Like many Western international locations, Iceland has been buffeted by the rising price of residing and immigration pressures.
Inflation peaked at an annual fee of 10.2% in February 2023, fueled by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. While inflation slowed to five.1% in October, that’s nonetheless excessive in contrast with neighboring international locations. The U.S. inflation fee stood at 2.6% final month, whereas the European Union’s fee was 2.3%.
Iceland can be struggling to accommodate a rising variety of asylum-seekers, creating tensions throughout the small, historically homogenous nation. The variety of immigrants looking for safety in Iceland jumped to greater than 4,000 in every of the previous three years, in contrast with a earlier common of lower than 1,000.
What in regards to the volcano?
Repeated eruptions of a volcano within the southwestern a part of the nation have displaced hundreds of individuals and strained public funds. One yr after the primary eruption pressured the evacuation of the city of Grindavik, many residents nonetheless don’t have safe housing, resulting in complaints that the federal government has been gradual to reply.
But it additionally added to a scarcity of reasonably priced housing exacerbated by Iceland’s tourism growth. Young individuals are struggling to get a foot on the housing ladder at a time when short-term trip leases have diminished the housing inventory accessible for locals, Önnudóttir stated.
“The housing issue is becoming a big issue in Iceland,” she stated.
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Danica Kirka reported from London. Jill Lawless contributed to this report from London.
Marco Di Marco And Danica Kirka, The Associated Press
