Iceland’s incumbent Independence party was in pole position to try to form a new government after elections on Saturday produced major gains for the anti-establishment Pirate party and its allies, but no outright winner.
With all votes counted, the Pirates – founded four years ago by a group of activists, anarchists and former hackers – and their three left-of-centre partners held a combined 27 seats, five short of a majority in the country’s 63-seat parliament.
The centre-right Independence party won nearly 30% of the vote, significantly more than pre-election polling had predicted, and with its coalition partner of the past three years, the Progressive party, ended on 29 seats.
In a campaign dominated in its early stages by public fury at Iceland’s traditional elites and a strong desire for political change, voters were gradually persuaded by the Independence party’s promises to lower taxes and keep Iceland’s economic recovery on track.
“I cannot deny that if the results stay this way … it would be natural that we are a leading party in the next government,” said the leader of the Independence party, Bjarni Benediktsson, one of the its 21 MPs.
The final shape of the government remains unclear, with multiple permutations possible. But the results mean the seven MPs from the newly established, liberal Viðreisn or Regeneration party, which split from Independence earlier this year over the issue of Europe, could well be kingmakers – making already delicate coalition negotiations even more difficult than usual.
