Icelanders are electing a new parliament after Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson announced the end of the ruling coalition and scheduled elections on November 13, the Associated Press reported, cited by BTA.
This is Iceland's sixth parliamentary election since the 2008 financial crisis. devastated the country's economy and ushered in a new era of political instability.
Polls suggest the country may be in for further turmoil as support for the three ruling parties falls. Benediktsson, who was appointed prime minister in April after the resignation of his predecessor, is struggling to hold on to the shaky coalition of his conservative Independence Party with the centrist Progressive Party and the left-wing Green Movement.
Iceland is proud of its democratic traditions and is considered to be possibly the oldest parliamentary democracy in the world. The island's parliament was founded in 930. from the Norwegians who settled in the country.
In many areas of the country, roads were blocked by heavy snow. The weather may also delay the delivery of ballot boxes to counting centers after polling stations close at 10 p.m. local time.