Iceland almost gains a female-majority parliament | Election News

Iceland short Famous According to a report by the national broadcaster RUV, a female-majority parliament was elected on Sunday before a recount showed that there would still be more men in parliament than women.

The initial vote statistics showed that among the 63 seats in the Icelandic parliament, female candidates won 33 seats, and the centrist party made the most profit in this election.

A few hours later, the recount in northwestern Iceland changed the result, giving female candidates 30 seats, a figure previously reached in Iceland’s second most recent election in 2016.

Nonetheless, it accounts for almost 48% of the total, which is the highest proportion of female legislators in Europe. On the African continent, Sweden and Finland represent 47% and 46% of women in parliament, respectively.

According to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Rwanda leads the world with 61% of the House of Representatives women, and the proportions of Cuba, Nicaragua and Mexico are close to or slightly higher than 50%. The organization stated that more than a quarter of legislators worldwide are women.

Iceland is a North Atlantic island with a population of 371,000. In the World Economic Forum (WEF) report released in March, it was rated as the most gender-equal country in the world for 12 consecutive years.

“Women’s victory is still the highlight of these elections,” political science professor Olafur Hadason told RUV after the recount.

Iceland’s Minister of Finance, Icelandic Independence Party leader and top candidate Bjarni Benediktsson (left) and party representatives reacted to the results displayed on the monitors of the Icelandic capital Reykjavik on September 25, 2021, when the country’s parliamentary elections Member of the Icelandic Independence Party.Everything [Halldor Kolbeins/ AFP]

Ingi Tryggvason, head of the Icelandic Electoral Commission, said that Iceland’s voting system is divided into six regions, and the recount in western Iceland was conducted after fierce competition in the northwestern district.

“We decided to recount the votes because the results were very close,” Trigwassen told AFP, adding that no one requested a recount.

This move did not affect the overall election results.

The three parties in the outgoing coalition government headed by Prime Minister Katelyn Jacobsdottir won a total of 37 seats in Saturday’s voting, two more seats than the previous election.

After 10 years of political crisis, the alliance brought four years of stability to Iceland. However, Jacob Dottier’s left-wing Green Party gradually weakened after losing to his right-wing partners, and the right-wing partners performed well.

The left-wing Green Party won only 8 seats, 3 fewer than in 2017, which raised questions about Jacob Dottier’s future as prime minister.

The center-right Independence Party received the largest share of votes, winning 16 seats, of which 7 were women. The centrist Progressive Party achieved the biggest gain, winning 13 seats, 5 more than the previous time.

The three parties have not announced whether they will cooperate for re-election, but given the strong support of voters, it seems very likely. The formation and announcement of the new government will take days or even weeks.

On September 25, 2021, Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jacobsdottir and the top candidate of the left-wing green movement voted at a polling station in the capital of Iceland in Reykjavik [Halldor Kolbeins/ AFP]

Speaking on the private broadcaster Stod 2 on Sunday, Jacobs Dottir refused to participate in discussions about the future of the alliance, saying only that her government received “significant” support in the election.

Progressive Party leader Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson and Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson stated that they are willing to discuss continuing in power.

Benediktsson told Stod 2, “It is normal for parties who have been cooperating for four years and have good personal relationships to try to continue cooperating.”

But he told the public broadcaster RUV that he was not sure they would succeed.

He also stated that he “would not ask” for the post of prime minister.

After years of political turmoil, the unusual left and right alliances emerged to bring stability.

Between 2007 and 2017, Icelanders expressed deep distrust of politicians in multiple scandals, leading them to participate in public opinion polls five times.

This is the first time since 2003 that the government has retained a majority of its seats.

Due to the unusually warm Icelandic summers—59 days with temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit)—and the shrinking glaciers, climate change is at the top of Iceland’s electoral agenda.

But this does not seem to translate into support for any of the four left-leaning parties, which are committed to reducing carbon emissions more than Iceland’s commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement.

One candidate who saw her victory overturned by the recount was Lenya Run Karim, a law student, a 21-year-old daughter of Kurdish immigrants who ran for the anti-establishment pirate party.

“This is a wonderful nine hours,” said Karim, who will become the youngest legislator in Iceland’s history.