Polls Open In Iceland’s Parliamentary Elections

 

AFP: Iceland government poised to win majority, but future uncertain 

Iceland's government was poised to win a majority in Saturday's election, early results showed, though it remained to be seen if Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir's left-right coalition would agree to continue in power together. 

The three-party coalition has brought Iceland four years of stability after a decade of crises.

Jakobsdottir's Left-Green Movement, the conservative Independence Party and the centre-right Progressive Party were together credited with 38 of 63 seats in parliament, with more than a third of votes counted. 

But the Left-Green Movement was seen losing crucial ground to its right-wing partners, putting Jakobsdottir's future as prime minister -- and the coalition itself -- in doubt.  

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Update #1: Icelanders vote with climate change on everyone's mind (ABC News/AP)  

Update #2: Iceland goes to the polls and prepares for complicated outcome (CNN)  

WNU Editor: It looks like the coalition that has been governing Iceland for four years is about to be split.

There Is No Beer In Iceland Courtesy Of The U.S. Military

At the Lebowski bar The Reykjavík Nightlife witnessed a massive US invasion over the weekend. Photo/Stefán

Task & Purpose: US Troops Deploy ‘Overwhelming Force’ Against Iceland’s Beer Supplies

U.S. troops landed in Iceland last week ahead of the start the largest NATO military exercise since the Cold War, and apparently, they left their mark in the most appropriate way possible: by drinking every last beer in the nation’s capital.

A significant number of bars in downtown Reykjavík were forced to make emergency beer runs under the onslaught of thirsty American sailors and Marines in town for the start of Trident Juncture 18, Iceland Magazine reports.

Local media estimate that 6,000 and 7,000 U.S. military personnel exhausted beer cellars across the Icelandic capital in the span of a single weekend.

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WNU editor:  six to seven thousand American sailors and Marines in downtown Reykjavi. That must have been quite a sight.

Iceland Heads To Coalition Talks After Yesterday's Vote

New York Times: Iceland’s Independence Party Retains Most Seats After Election

Iceland’s governing conservative Independence Party held off a stiff election challenge from the Left-Green Movement to maintain the most seats in Parliament, results released on Sunday showed.

But it was unclear who would receive the mandate to form the next government.

President Gudni Johannesson would normally call upon the leader of the biggest party. But the Independence Party, which is led by Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, emerged somewhat weakened.

It lost five seats even though it won just over 25 percent of Saturday’s vote in the second snap election in Iceland in a year.

The conservatives secured 16 seats in the 63-seat Parliament, known as the Althing. It was a disappointing performance for a party that has been involved in nearly every government since Iceland cut its last political ties to Denmark in 1944.

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More News On Iceland's Vacation

Iceland heads to coalition talks after vote; Populists gain -- Washington Post
Iceland election: Independence Party 'still has most seats' -- BBC News
Iceland's Ruling Conservatives Emerge Weakened After Vote -- Bloomberg
Iceland election: centre-right parties lose majority -- The Guardian
Iceland's scandal-hit PM wins re-election -- News24
Iceland leans toward leftist government in snap election -- Reuters

Iceland Goes To The Polls Today

New York Times: Iceland Goes to Polls Amid Scandals, Disgust and Distrust

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — As Iceland headed to the polls on Saturday to vote for members of one of the oldest Parliaments in the world, the shadow of political scandal clung to the political landscape, fomenting voter distrust and disgust.

The scandals have run the gamut, from accusations of a cover-up of a letter of recommendation written by a prime minister’s father on behalf of a convicted pedophile, to the fall of another prime minister who was forced out because of his family’s ties to the Panama Papers.

Both episodes led to the collapse of the government.

In a country that has clawed its way out of the financial collapse of 2008 and that can boast of unemployment figures veering close to zero, voter angst is high. Political parties that had once seemed like fresh alternatives a year ago have lost their luster.

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WNU Editor: Everyone is expecting a coalition government.

More News On Iceland Going To The Polls Today

Icelanders go to the polls for 3rd time in 4 years -- Washington Post
Iceland election: Voters go to polls after paedophile row -- BBC News
Iceland voters go to polls after scandals -- UPI
Iceland election: Leftists eye power as voters cast ballots in snap election -- Deutsche Welle
Iceland Holds Parliamentary Elections as Nation Tries to Overcome Scandal -- Voice of America
After Bank Crisis, Panama and Pedophilia Scandals, Iceland Votes -- Bloomberg
Election Day In Iceland: Polls Open Under Cloud Of Scandals -- Reykjavík Grapevine

Iceland's Government Collapses Over Claims That The Prime Minister's Father Tried To Clear A Pedophile's Name

Icelandic prime minister Bjarni Benediktsson speaks in parliament. Photograph: Geirix/Reuters

BBC: Iceland government collapses over paedophile furore

A furore over a paedophile's links to PM Bjarni Benediktsson has led to the collapse of Iceland's ruling coalition.

The Bright Future party said it was leaving the three-party coalition after nine months in office, blaming a "serious breach of trust".

Mr Benediktsson said the country should hold elections as soon as possible, preferably in November.

Earlier it emerged the PM's father wrote a letter recommending a convicted paedophile have his "honour restored".

This old Icelandic system permits convicts to have certain civil rights restored - enabling them to run for public office, qualify for certain government jobs or serve as an attorney or solicitor, for example - if three letters of recommendation from persons of good character are provided.

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More News On The Collapse Of Iceland's Government

Iceland PM calls snap election after coalition party quits over 'breach of trust' -- Reuters
Iceland’s center-right government collapses as member quits -- Washington Post/AP
Iceland's PM calls snap election after government collapses -- FRANCE 24
Icelandic PM calls snap election due to child sex abuse scandal -- The Independent
Iceland's government collapses following bid by PM's father to clear the name of a paedophile who raped his step-daughter daily for 12 years, prompting snap election -- Daily Mail
Row over sexual abuse letter brings down Iceland’s government -- The Guardian
Chaos in Iceland after prime minister's father tries to clear pedophile's name -- New York Post

Pirate Party Falls Short in Iceland Elections

Washington Post: Pirate Party surge falls short in Iceland election

LONDON — The Pirate Party, a radical movement of anarchists and hackers that didn’t exist this time four years ago, surged to third place in Iceland’s national elections but fell well short of expectations that it could top the vote, according to results released Sunday.

The outcome of the Saturday election more than triples the number of Pirates in the country’s parliament, the world’s oldest, and it ensures that the renegade movement will remain a force in Icelandic politics for years to come.

The Pirates, an offshoot of an international movement launched in Sweden, had campaigned on a platform of direct democracy, transparency and turning Iceland into “a digital safe haven, the Switzerland of bits.” The party’s leader, poet Birgitta Jónsdóttir, had promised Edward Snowden citizenship in a Pirate-led Iceland.

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More News On Iceland's Elections

Pirate Party make gains as center-right hangs on in Iceland -- AP
Icelanders vote for stability as Pirates fall short of expectations -- Reuters
Iceland election: Pirate Party triples seats -- BBC
Iceland elections leave ruling centre-right party in driving seat -- The Guardian
Iceland's incumbent Independence party could lead formation of new government -- UPI
Iceland's Independence Party looking to form next government -- Reuters
Iceland Election Updates: Pirate Party Gains Seats But Not Enough To Form Government -- IBTimes
Iceland Shows What Beats Populist Parties: Growth and Jobs -- Bloomberg

Iceland's Prime Minister Has Resigned Over The Panama Papers Revelations

BBC: Panama Papers: Iceland prime minister resigns

The prime minister of Iceland has resigned - the first major casualty of the Panama Papers leaks which have shed an embarrassing spotlight on the world of offshore finance.

The leaks, from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, showed PM Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson owned an offshore company, Wintris, with his wife.

He was accused of concealing millions of dollars worth of family assets.

A big protest was held in front of parliament in Iceland on Monday.

Reports suggest the agriculture minister will be the new PM.

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More News On Iceland's Prime Minister Resigning Over The Panama Papers Revelations

Icelandic PM to resign amid offshore holdings controversy -- AP
Iceland prime minister resigns amid fallout from ‘Panama Papers’ disclosures -- Washington Post
Reports: Iceland's Prime Minister Resigns Amid Panama Papers Scandal -- NPR
Iceland PM offers to resign amid Panama Papers scandal, official says -- FOX News
Iceland PM resigns after 'Panama Papers' leak -- The Hill
Panama Papers: Iceland’s Prime Minister Resigns -- The Atlantic
Iceland's prime minister has resigned over secret investments revealed in the Panama Papers -- Business Insider
Iceland PM Says ‘Bring It On,’ Then Resigns After Panama Leak -- Daily Caller

The U.S. Prepares To Track Russian Submarines In the North Atlantic

NATO forces conduct an anti-submarine exercise in the North Sea off the coast of Norway in May 2015. The Pentagon plans to upgrade the Keflavik Naval Air Station in Iceland to counter Russia's growing military presence in the North Atlantic. Marit Hommedal/NTB Scanpix via Reuters

CSM: Why does the Pentagon want to refurbish a base in Iceland?

The $21.4 million in upgrades are designed to equip the station with reconnaissance planes that will patrol the North Atlantic for Russian submarines.

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND — When the United States closed the Keflavik Naval Air Station in Iceland in 2006, military analysts in both nations were stunned.

While a menacing Russian agenda – the genesis of the base in 1951 – seemed remote in the aftermath of the cold war, Iceland was still viewed as a gem of a monitoring post.

Now, the US is giving its strategic value a fresh appraisal.

Last month, the Pentagon allocated $21.4 million in its 2017 fiscal budget to renew hanger facilities and restore infrastructure at the base. The planned upgrades will pave the way for basing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance planes there. The submarine-hunting P-8s will help patrol the North Atlantic – and serve as a counterbalance to Russia's growing military presence in the region.

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WNU Editor: Bit by bit the old "Cold War" is coming back.

A Shape Of Thngs To Come

People attend a demonstration in Reykjavik on November 15, 2008. The International Monetary Fund announced Wednesday that its executive board approved a loan of 2.1 billion dollars for Iceland to help the country rebound from a dire financial crisis.
(AFP/File/Halldor Kolbeins)

A Near-Riot And Parliament Besieged: Iceland
Boiling Mad At Credit Crunch -- New Scotsman

THOUSANDS of Icelanders have demonstrated in Reykjavik to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Geir Haarde and Central Bank governor David Oddsson, for failing to stop the country's financial meltdown.
It was the latest in a series of protests in the capital since October's banking collapse crippled the island's economy. At least five people were injured and Hordur Torfason, a well-known singer in Iceland and the main organiser of the protests, said the protests would continue until the government stepped down.

As crowds gathered in the drizzle before the Althing, the Icelandic parliament, on Saturday, Mr Torfason said: "They don't have our trust and they are no longer legitimate."

The value of the Icelandic krona has been cut in half since January.

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My Comment: This can easily happen in the U.S. or any other major industrial nation. Our addiction to debt is far worse than our addiction to oil, and it is coming home to roost right now.

Is Iceland A Template for What Will Be Happening To Us?

Icelandic Meltdown -- BU Today

Financial crisis puts Nordic nation on edge of bankruptcy

It’s been a dramatic couple of weeks for tiny Iceland. The land of free-wheeling multimillionaires (even a billionaire), low-interest loans, and high-yield savings accounts tumbled into financial ruin and was branded a terrorist nation by the United Kingdom — all in the space of 10 days.

Some 600 miles northwest of the United Kingdom, Iceland, which had rapidly transformed itself from one of the world’s poorest nations to one of the wealthiest, is pretty much bankrupt, the first national victim of the global credit crisis.

Iceland’s troubles started when the financial crisis emanating from the United States caused two of the country’s three private banks to collapse. At the time, the assets of these banks totaled more than 10 times the country’s gross domestic product. In other words, since the government was unable to guarantee loans, they were exposed.

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My Comment: The key phrase for Iceland's credit crisis .... It’s over extension. The same can also be said about us when it comes to military interventions, political commitments and promises, and economic programs.

Over extension always brings about grief and pain when reality settles in.

Iceland Is Our Future

Lie back and think of an economic upturn...bathers take to the Blue Lagoon, near Reykjavik. (Photograph: Bruno Morandi/Getty -- The Guardian)

The Party's Over For Iceland, The Island That
Tried To Buy The World -- Guardian

Almost overnight, its population became the wealthiest on Earth. Tracy McVeigh in Reykjavik finds that the credit crunch is making the cash disappear.

The snow has arrived early in Reykjavik after an unusually long and warm summer. The freeze has brought out the ghostly green haze of the aurora borealis - the Northern Lights - the shape of which shifts dramatically across the tiny city's black skies.

The bars and restaurants of Iceland's capital are packed, the Range Rovers and BMWs are parked nose to tail all along the streets of the central 101 district, and music is pumping from a black stretch Hummer limousine cruising by.

'What can we do? Its difficult times but we've spent all day talking about it, watching the news getting worse and worse. We had to go out and be with friends. Maybe it's like the party at the end of the world,' says Egill Tomasson, 32, sitting in the Kaffeebarinn bar.

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My Comment: This article is not related to military and/or war news .... but the consequences of not administrating one's budget will eventually impact many aspects of a society.

The Europeans are on a course .... and have been for a long time .... for a financial meltdown. As much as we in North America are focused on the U.S. financial system, the Europeans are in a worse position. This will impact every aspect of their life .... the military being one of them.

The Europeans .... like the Americans .... have been successful this week to delay the day of reckoning. Icelanders are facing it today. What is happening in Iceland is probably what we will face in a few years. When .... I do not know .... but like a visa statement ..... the bill will arrive. when it arrives .... trust me .... the tension that it will create will result in more wars and conflicts than we can imagine.