With a week since the parliamentary elections there’s still no clear sign of a majority coalition to govern Iceland.
President Guðni Th Jóhannesson summoned Bjarni Benediktsson, chairman of the Independence party to Bessastaðir, the presidential residence, early last week, following the elections and handed him the mandate to form a majority government. Forming a government is proofing a complicated task. The Independence party had just under 30% of the vote in the elections but the two parties who traditionally and most generally oppose the views of the centre right Independence party are the other two biggest parties, the Left Green and the Pirates with just over 30% of the vote between them. The likelihood of a three party majority is high but which parties will collaborate remains to bee seen. It will either be a government of minorities with the more left leaning parties collaborating or a government with a towering majority of the Independence party and two collaborating parties. Viðreisn (Resurrection) and Björt framtíð (Bright Future). The Progressive party, is also a possibility, if a third party would collaborate, which would essentially mean the same government as before the election, with a third party for support as the Progressive party plummeted in the elections.