Iceland on track for snap election as government falls

Iceland’s coalition government has collapsed, with a snap election likely to be held next month, the prime minister announced Sunday.

Icelandic Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson cited policy disagreements on issues ranging from economic to energy policy as the reason for the country’s three-party coalition government breaking up, and said an early election was the only option.

“I consider that I would be failing myself, the party members and the people of the country by pretending to be able to lead the government forward when we do not reach a conclusion on the issues that matter most to people,” Benediktsson said in a statement on social media.

“I therefore see no other option in this situation than to leave the future to the will of the voters,” he added.

The Nordic country has been governed by a coalition consisting of the conservative Independence Party, led by Benediktsson; the center-right Progressive Party; and the left-wing Left-Green Movement since 2021. Benediktsson became prime minister in April after former Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir of the Left-Green Movement resigned to run for the presidency, which she did not win.

Benediktsson met with Icelandic President Halla Tómasdóttir on Monday to formally request parliament’s dissolution and call an early parliamentary election “at the end of November.” Tómasdóttir said she would speak with party leaders and make a decision about when to call the election later this week, according to Icelandic media.

If an election is held next month, it would be the first November vote in almost a century.

Iceland was recently rocked by volcanic eruptions which forced thousands of residents in the southwest of the country to evacuate their homes and contributed to high inflation.