Iceland Leader Defeated; Feminists Win Key Role

Prime Minister Steingrimur Hermannsson on Sunday conceded defeat in Iceland’s general election, leaving left-wing feminists likely to hold the balance of power in negotiations to form a new government.

The center-right coalition of Hermannsson’s Progressive Party and the conservative Independence Party emerged with 31 seats in the 63-seat Althing, Iceland’s Parliament.

The two parties held a total of 38 seats in the old, 60-seat Parliament.

Hermannsson conceded shortly before all votes from Saturday’s election were counted. Of this North Atlantic island nation’s 240,000 people, 170,000 were eligible to vote.

“I expect I will be handing in my resignation on Tuesday,” Hermannsson told reporters.

Economic Platform

Hermannsonn ran mostly on an economic platform, taking credit for bringing inflation down to 12% last year from 130% in 1983.

The left-wing Women’s Alliance doubled its holding to six seats and said it won the right to enter the government. Leaders of major parties acknowledged that the feminists will likely hold the balance of power in negotiations between center-right and left-wing parties.

Feminists were elated Sunday.

“The people have demanded that the (Women’s) Alliance enter government,” declared Kristin Halldorsdottir, spokeswoman for the party, which made history in 1983 when it became the first feminist movement in the world to win parliament seats.

“We will consider every offer, but it is too early to tell what kind of government will be formed,” Halldorsdottir added.

The feminists, whose 10% of the vote was double their share in the last general election in 1983, said the price for any deal would be higher pay for women and improved social services.

Pre-Election Split

The governing coalition’s defeat was due largely to a pre-election split in the Independence Party, Iceland’s largest, that spawned the Citizens’ Party.

The new party, founded by Albert Gudmundsson, a charismatic veteran of the Independence Party, chalked up victories at the coalition’s expense, winning seven seats.

The split came last month after Gudmundsson had to resign as commerce minister over a tax scandal in which he insisted he was blameless.

The Independence Party, in its worst loss ever, won 18 seats, down from its previous 23.