Iceland votes for a new parliament after political disagreements force an early election
Icelanders are electing a new parliament after disagreements over immigration, energy policy and the economy forced Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson to pull the plug on his coalition government and call early elections
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Icelanders voted to elect a new parliament Saturday after disagreements over immigration, energy policy and the economy forced Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson to pull the plug on his coalition government and call an early election.
All polling stations managed to open despite fierce weather in the sub-Arctic nation that left roads in many areas blocked by snow. Ballot-counting began after polls closed at 10 p.m. local time (2200GMT), with results expected early Sunday.
This is Iceland’s sixth general election since the 2008 financial crisis devastated the economy of the North Atlantic island nation and ushered in a new era of political instability.
Opinion polls suggested the country could be in for another upheaval, with support for the three governing parties plunging. Benediktsson, who was named prime minister in April following the resignation of his predecessor, struggled to hold together the unlikely coalition of his conservative Independence Party with the centrist Progressive Party and the Left-Green Movement.
