MADRID Dec. 3 () –
The president of Iceland, Halla Tomasdottir, on Tuesday entrusted the formation of a new Government to the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Kristrun Frostadottir, after she won the last parliamentary elections last Saturday.
The Social Democratic Party won fifteen of the 63 deputies that make up the Assembly, but the parliamentary arithmetic after the elections forces them to promote a three-way coalition in order to form a majority government.
Frostadottir is expected to reach out to the Liberal Reform Party, which won eleven seats; and the People’s Party, which came in fourth position with ten deputies. This hypothetical government would have a majority of 36 seats.
“I am optimistic,” Frostadottir herself has stated before the media, while emphasizing that “there is a lot of harmony” between the political positions of the three parties. This government would aspire to increase or at least redesign taxes on energy and fishing, reports RUV radio and television.
Frostadottir campaigned assuring that he would control inflation and public finances, and strengthen the social protection system. For their part, the ‘liberals’ emphasized the importance of controlling public finances. Both parties are in favor of the island nation joining the European Union.
The big loser in the elections was the Independence Party, led by the current Icelandic Prime Minister, Bjarni Benediktsson. The conservatives had not lost a parliamentary election since 2009, in the midst of the financial crisis.
Add Comment