The leaders of Iceland’s opposition parties have requested a parliamentary resolution regarding a vote of no confidence for the government, a successful vote would demand a discontinuation of parliament before the New Year followed by general elections.
Chairman of the Progressive Party Valgerdur Sverrisdóttir told Morgunbladid that in light of historical precedent it was unlikely that such a resolution be accepted.
“While the nation is facing difficult circumstances—and the problems that need to be solved are truly significant—members of the government and the ruling parties are mainly channeling their energy into fighting among themselves. That is one of the reasons for us not trusting them to continue being in power,” Sverrisdóttir explained.
“Now there is just a question whether those in parliament who have been talking about the need for early elections meant it, especially ministers among the Social Democrats,” Sverrisdóttir said, referring to the words of Minister of Commerce Björgvin G. Sigurdsson and Minister of the Environment Thórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir who both claimed to support early elections.
“There doesn’t seem to be much meaning behind what they said, at least we don’t expect them to step down from their ministerial chairs to try and improve the situation, but we want to give them a chance to do that,” Sverrisdóttir added.
If more than 50 percent of MPs accept the resolution, elections will be held within a few months, but such a course of action seems unlikely given that 43 MPs represent either the Independence Party or the Social Democrats, while only 20 MPs belong to the opposition.
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Copyright of photo of Valgerdur Sverrisdóttir: Icelandic Photo Agency.
