Formal negotiations between the conservative Independence Party, the center-right Restoration, and the centrist Bright Future, will begin at half past three today, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service reports. Bjarni Benediktsson, the chairman of the Independence party received the mandate to form a government from the President of Iceland on the last day of 2016. Formal negotiations will begin today, while the chairmen of the three parties had been engaged in informal negotiations since before Christmas.
Read more: Negotiations on a center-right coalition government resumed
Left-greens, Social Democrats and centrist Progress party appeal to the conservatives
At the same time as formal negotiations on the formation of a center-right government take place, the leaders of the centrist Progress party and the chairman of the Left Green Movement have been in neogiations, the local news site Vísir reports. The local newspaper Morgunblaðið reports that the two parties are preparing to invite the conservative Independence party to form a new coalition government. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the chairman of the Left greens, told the local news site Vísir, that the two parties had been in talks over the Holidays, and that the small Social Democratic Alliance had been party to the talks.
A coalition government of the Left greens, Independence party, Progress party and Social Democratic Alliance would have a solid majority of 42 MPs, (out of 62) compared to the very narrow 2 vote majority (32 MPs) of a center-right coalition governmnet composed of the parties who are currently engaged in negotiations.
A referendum on EU membership
According to Benedikt Jóhannesson, the chairman of Restoration, the three parties have already agreed upon compromises on the thorniest issues differences seperating the three parties, including the attitude to the European Union. Restoration and Bright Future have supported Iceland joining the EU, while the Independence party has been a fierce opponent of membership. According to Vísir the parties have agreed to a referendum on EU membership.
Read more: The stalemate in Icelandic politics: What' going on and why is there no coalition in sight?
The negotiations between the Progress pary and the Left Greens provide a whole new and unexplored angle to the complex negotiations on the formation of a coalition government. To this date the Progress party has been excluded from negotiations between the parties. The reason was that none of the parties in parliament, with the exception of the Independence party, was willing to work with the party of the disgraced former Prime Minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. Sigmundur Davíð resigned in the spring of 2016 over revalations in the Panama Papers.
Formal negotiations between the conservative Independence Party, the center-right Restoration, and the centrist Bright Future, will begin at half past three today, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service reports. Bjarni Benediktsson, the chairman of the Independence party received the mandate to form a government from the President of Iceland on the last day of 2016. Formal negotiations will begin today, while the chairmen of the three parties had been engaged in informal negotiations since before Christmas.
Read more: Negotiations on a center-right coalition government resumed
Left-greens, Social Democrats and centrist Progress party appeal to the conservatives
At the same time as formal negotiations on the formation of a center-right government take place, the leaders of the centrist Progress party and the chairman of the Left Green Movement have been in neogiations, the local news site Vísir reports. The local newspaper Morgunblaðið reports that the two parties are preparing to invite the conservative Independence party to form a new coalition government. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the chairman of the Left greens, told the local news site Vísir, that the two parties had been in talks over the Holidays, and that the small Social Democratic Alliance had been party to the talks.
A coalition government of the Left greens, Independence party, Progress party and Social Democratic Alliance would have a solid majority of 42 MPs, (out of 62) compared to the very narrow 2 vote majority (32 MPs) of a center-right coalition governmnet composed of the parties who are currently engaged in negotiations.
A referendum on EU membership
According to Benedikt Jóhannesson, the chairman of Restoration, the three parties have already agreed upon compromises on the thorniest issues differences seperating the three parties, including the attitude to the European Union. Restoration and Bright Future have supported Iceland joining the EU, while the Independence party has been a fierce opponent of membership. According to Vísir the parties have agreed to a referendum on EU membership.
Read more: The stalemate in Icelandic politics: What' going on and why is there no coalition in sight?
The negotiations between the Progress pary and the Left Greens provide a whole new and unexplored angle to the complex negotiations on the formation of a coalition government. To this date the Progress party has been excluded from negotiations between the parties. The reason was that none of the parties in parliament, with the exception of the Independence party, was willing to work with the party of the disgraced former Prime Minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. Sigmundur Davíð resigned in the spring of 2016 over revalations in the Panama Papers.
