Legislative in Iceland: the government coalition on the way to keeping its majority, with a push from the right wing

The left-right coalition in power in Iceland is on track to keep its majority after parliamentary elections on Saturday, September 25, according to partial results. However, Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir’s left-wing environmental movement is losing ground compared to its two right-wing allies.

Around 3 a.m. on Sunday (Paris time), the alliance is credited with 38 of the 63 seats in Parliament, with more than a third of the votes counted, although it is not certain that the three parties will continue to vote. govern together.

The big winner of the evening is the Progress Party (center right), about to delight the Left-Green movement of M^me Jakobsdottir the rank of second party of Iceland, behind the indebted Independence Party (conservative) of the former Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson who survived several scandals, including that of the Panama Papers in 2016

According to projections, the latter would win 24.3% of the vote and 16 of the 63 seats in parliament, while the progressives led by Sigurdur Ingi Jóhannsson would win 13 seats with 16.5% of the vote, five more than in the previous elections of 2017. The Left-Green movement would decline to 14.7% and nine seats, two less than four years ago.

If the future of the coalition remains uncertain, the three party leaders had agreed to start discussions if they managed to maintain the government majority, which was threatened according to polls, in this country of only 370,000 inhabitants and 255,000 voters.

A very fragmented Parliament

The Progress Party “Is back in the forefront of the political scene”, launched, upon the announcement of the first estimates, its leader Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson in front of his activists. The formation of a new alliance risks raising the temperature in the land of fire and ice, like the volcanic eruption which has lasted for more than six months not far from the capital Reykjavik.

According to the latest polls, a record of nine parties out of the ten contending should share the seats of the Althingi – the Parliament for more than a thousand years – making the governmental alliance that could emerge from it particularly illegible.

With 33 elected out of 63, the current government alliance unites the Independence Party (conservative, 16 seats) of old Icelandic politician Bjarni Benediktsson, the Progress Party and the Left-Green movement of Mr.^me Jakobsdottir.

This is only the second time since the 2008 financial crisis that ruined Icelandic banks that a government has completed its mandate. Against a background of mistrust of the political class inherited from the financial collapse and repeated scandals, five legislative elections were held between 2007 and 2017 in the country, which is not a member of the European Union.