Iceland’s Parliamentary Elections: The Party Balance Changes
Nielsen: Often Takes Crisis to Get Big Policy Reaction
Iceland is a multi-party democracy based on proportional representation. That means governments are more often than not supported by a coalition: The last time a single party ruled the north Atlantic island nation was more than a quarter of a century ago.
So now the Independence Party must assemble a coalition even though its former partner, the Progressive Party, lost more than half its seats on Saturday. And the populist Pirate Party, which had loomed as a possible winner in some polls, more than tripled its seats.
To govern, any party or alliance of parties must secure more than half of the 63 seats available in the Althing, one of the world’s oldest parliaments -- its origins can be traced back to 930. Mandates last four years.