From Ambassador (Icelandic Parliamentary Election)

2024/12/6
election
This is the second time I have witnessed the parliamentary election of Iceland and the atmosphere was completely different from the last one. A fresh wind is blowing, and a completely new line-up of people will be taking over the reins of government based on the results.
 
The last Election was held in September 2021. The regime at the time was a three-party coalition led by Katrín Jakobsdóttir, leader of the Left-Green Movement Party and Prime Minister. The Election implied a vote of confidence in the coalition as well was in Prime Minister Katrín and therefore it was not clear what the election issues were.
 
If the term of office would have been completed, the election is supposed to be held next autumn, but Prime Minister Katrín's successor, Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson (leader of the Independence Party), decided to dissolve the parliament and hold a snap election.
 
The voting day was Saturday, November 30th. The ballots in the six constituencies across the country began to come in, but it was not until late at night on the same day and into the morning of the following day that the results of the seat allocation gradually became clear. In addition to this, the final results for the elected members remained unknown until after midday on Sunday, when the allocation of the adjustment seats, distributed in proportion to the vote share across the country, was finalized.
 
The Left Green Movement, which had eight members of parliament elected in the last election with Katrín as its leader, failed to secure any seats this time due to a lack of growth in its vote share. All of the party's members of parliament, including party leader Svandís Svavarsdóttir, lost their seats. The Progressive Party, which is still part of the coalition government, also saw a significant decrease in its seats, and three of its incumbent ministers were defeated. The leader of the party, Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, Minister of Finance and Economy, also narrowly avoided losing his seat. The Independence Party, led by Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, put up a good fight, but was unable to match the Social Democratic Alliance, which increased its seats significantly this time, and had to hand over its position as the largest party.
 
The Social Democratic Alliance, which came first, did not win a majority of seats on its own, but it is thought that the Independent Party and the Progressive Party are unlikely to participate in the coalition cabinet that will be formed in the future.
 
Many of the members of parliament retired or lost their seats in this election, and about half of the successful candidates are new to parliament. Some of the members who lost their seats were people I had become good friends with, so I feel a little sad.