A snap election is underway in Iceland today, with voters likely to oust the ruling coalition in a bid to escape the cost of living crisis, but an expected heavy snowstorm could delay the counting of ballots, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The North Atlantic island nation, with a population of 384,000, has enjoyed relative political stability since 2017. and ranks among the wealthiest countries in Europe per capita, relying on tourism, fishing, cheap geothermal energy and aluminum production using hydroelectricity.
However, inflation and borrowing costs are near their highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis. and contributed to a deepening economic slowdown that made growing hardship a top concern for voters.
A series of volcanic eruptions near the capital, Reykjavik, displaced thousands of people and cost infrastructure repairs, compounding the problem by also affecting tourism.
Polling stations open this morning at 09:00 GMT and close at 22:00, with the final result expected on Sunday morning.
For today, however, a heavy snowstorm is forecast to hit the eastern part of the country, which could delay the counting of votes, so authorities encouraged voters to vote early.
Polls show that the ruling triple coalition of the left-wing Green Movement, the conservative Independence Party and the center-right Progressive Party, which has been in power for the past seven years, is likely to be ousted.
„We have had the same coalition for seven years and it seems that now there is a desire for new people in the government," said Stefania Oskarsdottir, a political scientist at the University of Iceland.
In April, Katrin Jakobsdóttir of the Left Green Movement resigned as prime minister to run for president, but lost. Her deputy, Bjarni Benediksson of the Independence Party, in October dissolved parliament and called an election after escalating coalition divisions and public discontent over migration and energy and housing issues.
In the last decade, Iceland's population has grown by 20% – the largest increase among OECD countries, fueled by high levels of immigration, putting further pressure on housing and healthcare.
While inflation and interest rates have recently started to fall, the cost-of-living crisis has brought the issue of EU membership back into the pre-election debate. According to pre-election polls, the pro-European Social Democratic Alliance and the Party of Liberal Reforms together would garner 40% of the vote.
The center-left Social Democratic Alliance, which was last in government between 2009 and 2013, will win just over 20% of the vote, followed by the center-right Liberal Reform Party.
„The biggest problem here right now is the cost of living,” said the 36-year-old leader of the Social Democrats, Kristrun Frostadottir, in an interview with Reuters.
An economist by training, she took over the party two years ago, is the founder of the Scandinavian model of welfare and is the favorite to be the new prime minister.