by NordicStorm
Sun May 13th, 2007 at 04:51:55 AM EST
On May 12, 2007, elections will be held for one of the oldest parliaments in the world, the Alþing of Iceland. Iceland doesn't seem to be getting a whole lot of attention, not even in the other Nordic countries, so I figured I should write a word or two about the upcoming elections.
Update: See Nanne's comment below: "Reuters: Iceland government clings to majority by a seat" and full election results below the fold.
bumped up ~ whataboutbob
The Alþing consists of 63 seats, 54 of which are elected from six constituencies using the d'Hondt method, and 9 additional seats allocated to the parties on the basis of the national vote, so that the national vote the parties received is as close as possible to the number of seats the parties receives in the Alþing. Participation is high; in 2003, 87.5% of the voting-age population voted.
The current government is a coalition of the right-wing conservative Independence Party (who holds 23 seats) and the liberal Progressive Party (11 seats), with Independence Party chairman Geir H. Haarde serving as prime minister. The two parties have governed together since 1995. The opposition consists of the three remaining parties in the Alþing, the social democratic Social Democratic Alliance (19 seats), the socialist and environmentalist Left Green Movement (5 seats) and the right-wing Liberal Party (5 seats).
Current polling have the Independence Party increasing its share of the electorate to 40%, which would give them about 26 of the seats. The junior coalition partner, the Progressive Party, looks to be losing quite a few of its seats, but still have enough for the government coalition to stay in power. The Social Democrats looks to be losing a lot of its support to the Left-Green Movement.
The election campaign seems to be mostly about domestic issues, while the ever hot-button topic of EU membership has been barely addressed at all, primarily because most of the parties either have no coherent position or are outright negative to the idea (this includes the Independence Party). The only party in favour of EU membership are the Social Democratic Alliance. Interestingly enough, a poll suggests a not-bad 58% of the Icelandic population would be in favour of beginning negotiations to join the EU, compared to only 27% against it. Nevertheless, given the divide within the parties themselves, it seems very unlikely that EU membership will be on the agenda in the near future.
Update [2007-5-12 7:48:44 by NordicStorm]: Some polling done on May 9-10:
| % | Seats | % 2003 | Seats 2003 |
| Independence Party | 38.4% | 25 | 33.7% | 22 |
| Social Democrats | 25.8% | 17 | 31.0% | 20 |
| Left Greens | 17.6% | 11 | 8.8% | 5 |
| Progressive Party | 10.3% | 6 | 17.7% | 12 |
| Liberal Party | 6.0% | 4 | 7.4% | 4 |
| Living Land | 1.9% | 0 | - | - |
If the polling numbers hold up, the current coalition partners would only hold 31 seats in the next Alþing, one seat short of a majority.
Living Land is a new environmentalist party.
Update [2007-5-13 5:9:48 by NordicStorm]: Election results, 100% counted:
| % | Seats | % 2003 | Seats 2003 |
| Independence Party | 36.6% | 25 | 33.7% | 22 |
| Social Democrats | 26.8% | 18 | 31.0% | 20 |
| Left Greens | 14.3% | 9 | 8.8% | 5 |
| Progressive Party | 11.7% | 7 | 17.7% | 12 |
| Liberal Party | 7.3% | 4 | 7.4% | 4 |
| Living Land | 3.3% | 0 | - | - |
83.6% voted. The current coalition of the Independence Party and the Progressive Party retains a slim majority - 32 out of 63 seats.
