Iceland Prime Minister Calls for Early Elections in November

Facts

• Iceland's Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson announced the end of the three-party ruling coalition in a press conference on Sunday, calling for snap parliamentary elections to be held on Nov. 30.^[1][2]
• He blamed the collapse on growing disagreements between his right-wing Independence Party and its partners, the Left-Greens and the center-right Progressive Party, over issues such as energy and immigration.^[1][3][4]
• On Monday, Bjarni met with the country's president, Halla Tómasdóttir to formally request the dissolution of parliament and early elections. Halla said she would announce a decision later this week after speaking with other party leaders.^[5][6][7]
• If she confirms the dissolution, new elections must be held within 45 days. If she decides against it, parties currently in parliament would have to enter negotiations to form a new government ahead of an election due by September 2025.^[3][6][8]
• The three-party coalition was first formed after a snap election in 2017 and renewed in 2021, with Bjarni becoming prime minister in April after Katrín Jakobsdóttir of the Left-Greens resigned to run for presidency.^[3][7]
• Recent polls show that the coalition parties have lost popularity against a backdrop of high inflation and interest rates, as well as volcanic eruptions and seismic activity, with the Gallup score falling to the lowest seen for an Icelandic government in decades.^[4][8][9]

Sources: ^[1]RÚV, ^[2]Guardian, ^[3]Icelandreview, ^[4]Al Jazeera, ^[5]Iceland Monitor, ^[6]The Reykjavik Grapevine, ^[7]POLITICO, ^[8]Bloomberg and ^[9]ArcticToday.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Euronews. Bjarni has caught the nation by surprise with his decision to dissolve the coalition and call for a snap election, especially as this matter wasn't discussed in recent talks with the Left-Greens. Iceland would be better served if its politicians were focused on pressing economic issues, rather than elections.
• Narrative B, as provided by Icelandreview. This move is all but surprising. There were clear signs of weakness and tension within the coalition, and that matter had been discussed when Bjanir met with party leaders. In fact, the Left-Greens were even pushing for early elections this spring. The time has come for another vote in Iceland.