The local news site visir.is reports that the two majority coalition parties will not sit out their full four year term, but will call for early elections when one full year is still left of the four year term. The exact date for the elections has not been determined, as this will be determined by the schedule of Parliament and the progress of key bills, but the elections will be held this fall, Sigurður Ingi Jóhannesson, the vice chairman of the Progressive Party and Bjarni Benediktsson, the chairman of the Independence Party announced minutes ago.
Sigurður Ingi, who currently serves as the minister of Agriculture and Fisheries will become Prime Minister until the election. A major shake-up of the composition of the cabinet will be announced tomorrow. Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the embattled PM who has been the centre of controversy since he was revealed to have connections to a mysterious off-shore company in the notorious tax-haven Tortola, is expected to tender his resignation to the President of Iceland tomorrow.
Read more: Iceland's president refuses the PM to dissolve parliament – the president's full speech
This was the conclusion of negotiations between the centre-right Progressive Party, which is still led by Sigmundur Davíð, who has announced he will resign, due to revelations in the Panama Papers, and the conservative Independence Party. The two parties have been scrambling to find a way to salvage their coalition in face of the scandal surrounding the PM.
Read more: Majority of Icelanders want shamed PM Sigmundur Davíð to resign
On Tuesday the Prime Minister announced he would step aside, and named the Vice Chairman of the Party, Sigurður Ingi Jóhansson as his successor. The MPs of the two parties then met separately to discuss the next steps, as well as negotiating with representatives of the other party. In the afternoon the two coalition parties had reached an agreement but Sigurður Ingi told media that the details of these negotiations would be announced after they had been discussed by the PMs of the two parties.
The local news site visir.is reports that the two majority coalition parties will not sit out their full four year term, but will call for early elections when one full year is still left of the four year term. The exact date for the elections has not been determined, as this will be determined by the schedule of Parliament and the progress of key bills, but the elections will be held this fall, Sigurður Ingi Jóhannesson, the vice chairman of the Progressive Party and Bjarni Benediktsson, the chairman of the Independence Party announced minutes ago.
Sigurður Ingi, who currently serves as the minister of Agriculture and Fisheries will become Prime Minister until the election. A major shake-up of the composition of the cabinet will be announced tomorrow. Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the embattled PM who has been the centre of controversy since he was revealed to have connections to a mysterious off-shore company in the notorious tax-haven Tortola, is expected to tender his resignation to the President of Iceland tomorrow.
Read more: Iceland's president refuses the PM to dissolve parliament – the president's full speech
This was the conclusion of negotiations between the centre-right Progressive Party, which is still led by Sigmundur Davíð, who has announced he will resign, due to revelations in the Panama Papers, and the conservative Independence Party. The two parties have been scrambling to find a way to salvage their coalition in face of the scandal surrounding the PM.
Read more: Majority of Icelanders want shamed PM Sigmundur Davíð to resign
On Tuesday the Prime Minister announced he would step aside, and named the Vice Chairman of the Party, Sigurður Ingi Jóhansson as his successor. The MPs of the two parties then met separately to discuss the next steps, as well as negotiating with representatives of the other party. In the afternoon the two coalition parties had reached an agreement but Sigurður Ingi told media that the details of these negotiations would be announced after they had been discussed by the PMs of the two parties.
