Icelandic Government keeps Majority in Parliamentary Elections

The coalition government in Iceland formed of  the Independence Party (Sjalfstaedisflokkurinn) and the Progressive Party (Framsoknarflokkurinn) received a slight majority in parliament – 32 MPs in total – after the general election on Saturday.The Independence Party received 36.6 percent of the vote and 25 MPs, three more MPs than the last elections in 2003.

The Progressive Party lost five MPs and now has only seven MPs in parliament after receiving 11.7 percent of the vote.

The Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin) received 26.8 percent of the vote and 18 MPs – the party lost two MPs since the elections in 2003.

The Left-Greens (Vinstri graenir) received 14.3 percent of votes yesterday and nine MPs – an increase of 4 since 2003.

The Liberal Party (Frjálslyndi flokkurinn) received 7.3 percent of votes and four MPs, the same as in 2003, and the new party, the Icelandic Movement (Íslandhreyfingin), received 3.3 percent of votes but no MP.

There are a total of 63 MPs in the parliament which means the current coaltion could remain in power with its majority of 32 MPs. However, the Independence Party could start talks with another party to form a stronger coalition rather than try to govern with such a small majority.