Women cease to be a majority in Iceland’s Parliament after vote counting

Iceland It believed this Sunday that it had become the first country in Europe to elect a Parliament with a majority of women, after the legislative elections on Saturday, but with a recount of votes they came to represent less than 50% of the hemicycle.

Of the 63 seats that the Althingi, the millennial Parliament Icelandic, 30 will be occupied by women, compared to the 33 before this count.

Still, this ratio continues to be a record in Europe. So far, Sweden ranked first, with 47% female MPs, according to data compiled by the World Bank.

After this new count, which changed the results in one of the six constituencies of the country, because of the complex Icelandic electoral system, three women they lost the seat they had originally won, Ingi Tryggvason, president of the local electoral commission, told AFP.

“Those few votes of difference they carry this great commotion “, found.

Nobody asked for it, but “We decided to recount because the result was very narrow”added the electoral manager of the Northwest constituency.

Even so, uncertainty continues to reign in part, as a possible count in another constituency, in the south of the country, it could have consequences.

Before this second took place count, responsible and citizens expressed their satisfaction to see that the little Iceland (370,000 inhabitants) entered the history of European politics.

No country in Europe has ever exceeded the symbolic threshold of 50% of women at Parliament.

“I am 85 years old, I have waited my whole life for women sean most (…) and I’m really very happy “Erdna, a resident of Reykjavik, the capital of this Nordic country, had told AFP.

Despite the fact that several parties reserve a minimum proportion of women among their own candidates, there is no law that imposes a quota on legislatures in Iceland, according to the democratic organization International Idea.

Iceland is often at the forefront in the cause of women and has topped the World Economic Forum ranking for gender equality for 12 consecutive years.

“It is a new example of the path we have traveled on the path of complete equality of the sexes (…) I wish this Parliament much success”The Icelandic head of state, Gudni Johannesson, had told AFP.

However, it is a woman who has suffered the most in these elections: Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, whose Left-Green Movement party lost three seats and won 12.6% of the votes. votes behind his two current right-wing allies.

Far from the political blockade

The big winner is the Progress Party (center-right), which won 13 seats, five more than in the last legislative elections of 2017, with 17.3% of the votes.

Joy reigned Saturday night at the headquarters of this formation, which is returning “To the fore of the political scene”, según su líder, Sigurour Ingi Jóhannsson.

But the conservative party of former Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson nevertheless remains the main force in the country, with 24.4% of the votes, so that it retains its 16 seats.

With a total of 37 deputies, the three allied parties consolidate their mostBut the right is in a position of strength, with the options of forming a coalition with another ideologically closer partner such as the centrists Reforma (five seats) or the Center (three).

Although the future of the coalition remains uncertain, Iceland it is moving away from a scenario of political blockade as announced by the polls.

Since the spectacular bankruptcy of Icelandic banks in 2008, never has an island government retained its most. You have to go back to 2003 to find a precedent.

The three party leaders will have to argue, and the question of who will occupy the Stjornarradid, the modest white house where Icelandic heads of government live, will be on the table, according to analysts.

Conservative Benediktsson Prime Minister again? “I do not claim it”The leader of the Conservatives, for whom “It is necessary to make an effort to find solutions.”

After A decade of crisis, scandals and repeated appointments with the polls, the current coalition brought back political stability to the country.

Between 2007 and 2017, Icelanders had to go to the polls on five occasions to elect their deputies in a context of distrust of the political class and repeated scandals.

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