Icelandic parliamentary election, 2009
Encyclopedia
A parliamentary election was held in Iceland
on 25 April 2009 following strong pressure from the public as a result of the Icelandic financial crisis. The Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement
, which formed the outgoing coalition
government under Prime Minister
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
, both made gains and now together have an overall majority of seats in the Althing
(Iceland's parliament). The Progressive Party
also made gains, and the new Citizens' Movement
, formed after the January 2009 protests, gained four seats. The big loser was the Independence Party
, which had been in power for 18 years until January 2009: it lost a third of its support and nine seats in the Althing.
Geir Haarde
of the Independence Party
announced that he was withdrawing from politics for health reasons (he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer
), and promised early elections for 9 May. However, the Independence Party wished to retain the Prime Minister's post, which proved unacceptable to their coalition partners the Social Democratic Alliance: the government collapsed on 26 January 2009.
After consultations with all the political parties represented in the Althing, the President
asked the Social Democratic Alliance to form a new government. This proved to be a minority coalition with the Left-Green Movement
, with the support of the Progressive Party
and the Liberal Party, which was sworn in on 1 February. Former Social Affairs Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
became Prime Minister.
The date of the elections was one of the agreements between the coalition partners. The Social Democrats preferred 9 May, while the Left-Greens wanted elections in early April: the intermediate position of the Progressive Party, 25 April, was adopted. The three parties also agree to convene a constitutional assembly to discuss changes to the Constitution
. There was no agreement on the question of an early referendum on prospective EU membership, an issue which divided the coalition partners.
resigned as both party leader and Althing member on 17 November 2008. Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson
was elected party chairman on 18 January 2009, despite not being a member of the Althing at the time. One of Sigmundur Davíð's first actions as party leader was to call for early elections and to offer the support of the party's seven Althing members to an interim coalition of the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement.
Independence Party chairman Geir Haarde
announced his retirement from politics on 23 January 2009, revealing that he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer which required urgent treatment. He was succeeded by Bjarni Benediktsson
at the party's convention on 29 March 2009. The party also proposed to call for two referendums on the EU – one on starting entry talks (which could be held by summer 2010), and another on membership after negotiations are over.
Social Democrat leader Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir
had also been unwell since September 2008 with a benign brain tumour which had kept her out of the public eye for much of the financial crisis. Although initially she had planned to remain in control of the party while fellow Social Democrat Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir served as Prime Minister, Ingibjörg Sólrún announced on 8 March 2009 that she could not guarantee that her health was good enough to continue to serve the public. Jóhanna had previously stated she did not want to become party leader, but changed her mind in mid-March and announced she would stand for party leadership, citing strong encouragement from many party members as the reason. She was elected, as expected, with a strong majority of 97% of the vote at the party congress of 27–29 March 2009.
Two new parties were formed in the aftermath of the January protests: the Citizens' Movement
(Borgarahreyfingin) and the Democratic Movement
(Lýðræðishreyfingin). Both contested all six constituencies in the 2009 elections. A third new party, L-List of Sovereignty Supporters
(L-listi fullveldissinna), withdrew its candidacy on 3 April. The Icelandic Movement – Living Land (Íslandshreyfingin – lifandi land), which had unsuccessfully contested the 2007 election on a green platform, merged into the Social Democratic Alliance at the March 2009 party congress.
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
on 25 April 2009 following strong pressure from the public as a result of the Icelandic financial crisis. The Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement
Left-Green Movement
The Left-Green Movement is a left-wing political party in Iceland.It was founded in 1999 by a few members of Alþingi who did not approve of the planned merger of the left parties in Iceland that resulted in the founding of the Social Democratic Alliance...
, which formed the outgoing coalition
Coalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
government under Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Iceland
The Prime Minister of Iceland is Iceland's head of government. The prime minister is appointed formally by the President and exercises executive authority along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary support....
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir , , is the Prime Minister of Iceland. Many years a politician, she was previously Iceland's Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security from 1987–1994 and 2007–2009. She has been a member of the Althing for Reykjavík constituencies since 1978, winning re-election on eight...
, both made gains and now together have an overall majority of seats in the Althing
Althing
The Alþingi, anglicised variously as Althing or Althingi, is the national parliament of Iceland. The Althingi is the oldest parliamentary institution in the world still extant...
(Iceland's parliament). The Progressive Party
Progressive Party (Iceland)
The Progressive Party is an agrarian, liberal and centrist party in Iceland. The party is a member of the Liberal International. Current chairman of the party is Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. He was elected on January 18, 2009. His predecessor was Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, who only served as...
also made gains, and the new Citizens' Movement
Citizens' Movement (Iceland)
The Citizens' Movement is a political party in Iceland, founded by a number of grassroots movements in the lead up to the 2009 election during the Global Recession, which hit Iceland particularly hard....
, formed after the January 2009 protests, gained four seats. The big loser was the Independence Party
Independence Party (Iceland)
The Independence Party is a centre-right political party in Iceland. Liberal conservative and Eurosceptic, it is the second-largest party in the Althing, with sixteen seats. The chairman of the party is Bjarni Benediktsson and vice chairman is Ólöf Nordal....
, which had been in power for 18 years until January 2009: it lost a third of its support and nine seats in the Althing.
Collapse of the previous government
There had been weekly protests in front of the Althing since the collapse of Iceland's three commercial banks in October 2008. These protests intensified with the return of the Althing from Christmas recess on 20 January 2009. Three days later, Prime MinisterPrime Minister of Iceland
The Prime Minister of Iceland is Iceland's head of government. The prime minister is appointed formally by the President and exercises executive authority along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary support....
Geir Haarde
Geir Haarde
Geir Hilmar Haarde was Prime Minister of Iceland from 15 June 2006 to 1 February 2009 and Chairman of the Icelandic Independence Party from 2005 to 2009. Geir initially led a coalition between his party and the Progressive Party...
of the Independence Party
Independence Party (Iceland)
The Independence Party is a centre-right political party in Iceland. Liberal conservative and Eurosceptic, it is the second-largest party in the Althing, with sixteen seats. The chairman of the party is Bjarni Benediktsson and vice chairman is Ólöf Nordal....
announced that he was withdrawing from politics for health reasons (he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...
), and promised early elections for 9 May. However, the Independence Party wished to retain the Prime Minister's post, which proved unacceptable to their coalition partners the Social Democratic Alliance: the government collapsed on 26 January 2009.
After consultations with all the political parties represented in the Althing, the President
President of Iceland
The President of Iceland is Iceland's elected head of state. The president is elected to a four-year term by universal adult suffrage and has limited powers. The president is not the head of government; the Prime Minister of Iceland is the head of government. There have been five presidents since...
asked the Social Democratic Alliance to form a new government. This proved to be a minority coalition with the Left-Green Movement
Left-Green Movement
The Left-Green Movement is a left-wing political party in Iceland.It was founded in 1999 by a few members of Alþingi who did not approve of the planned merger of the left parties in Iceland that resulted in the founding of the Social Democratic Alliance...
, with the support of the Progressive Party
Progressive Party (Iceland)
The Progressive Party is an agrarian, liberal and centrist party in Iceland. The party is a member of the Liberal International. Current chairman of the party is Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. He was elected on January 18, 2009. His predecessor was Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, who only served as...
and the Liberal Party, which was sworn in on 1 February. Former Social Affairs Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir , , is the Prime Minister of Iceland. Many years a politician, she was previously Iceland's Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security from 1987–1994 and 2007–2009. She has been a member of the Althing for Reykjavík constituencies since 1978, winning re-election on eight...
became Prime Minister.
The date of the elections was one of the agreements between the coalition partners. The Social Democrats preferred 9 May, while the Left-Greens wanted elections in early April: the intermediate position of the Progressive Party, 25 April, was adopted. The three parties also agree to convene a constitutional assembly to discuss changes to the Constitution
Constitution of Iceland
The Constitution of Iceland is the supreme law of Iceland. It is composed of 80 articles in seven sections, and within it the leadership arrangement of the country is determined and the human rights of its citizens are preserved. The current constitution was first instituted on June 17, 1944; since...
. There was no agreement on the question of an early referendum on prospective EU membership, an issue which divided the coalition partners.
New leaders, new parties
The Progressive Party was the first of the historic parties to change leadership after the 2008 financial crisis, when Guðni ÁgústssonGuðni Ágústsson
Guðni Ágústsson is a former Icelandic politician who was Chairman of the Progressive Party from 2007 until 17 November 2008, when he unexpectedly resigned, both as chairman of his party and as MP. He was a member of the Althing 1987 – 2008, for the Southern Constituency from 1987 to 2003 and for...
resigned as both party leader and Althing member on 17 November 2008. Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson
Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson
Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is an Icelandic politician and chairman of the Progressive Party. He was elected to the Althing as the 8th member for the Reykjavík North constituency on 25 April 2009....
was elected party chairman on 18 January 2009, despite not being a member of the Althing at the time. One of Sigmundur Davíð's first actions as party leader was to call for early elections and to offer the support of the party's seven Althing members to an interim coalition of the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement.
Independence Party chairman Geir Haarde
Geir Haarde
Geir Hilmar Haarde was Prime Minister of Iceland from 15 June 2006 to 1 February 2009 and Chairman of the Icelandic Independence Party from 2005 to 2009. Geir initially led a coalition between his party and the Progressive Party...
announced his retirement from politics on 23 January 2009, revealing that he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer which required urgent treatment. He was succeeded by Bjarni Benediktsson
Bjarni Benediktsson, Jr.
Bjarni Benediktsson, Jr., is an Icelandic politician and leader of Icelandic Independence Party.Bjarni was elected leader of the conservative Independence Party at its national convention on 29 March 2009 with 58.1 percent of the vote, about a month before the April 2009 Icelandic legislative...
at the party's convention on 29 March 2009. The party also proposed to call for two referendums on the EU – one on starting entry talks (which could be held by summer 2010), and another on membership after negotiations are over.
Social Democrat leader Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir
Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir
Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir is an Icelandic politician from the Social Democratic Alliance, formerly Minister for Foreign Affairs 2007–2009 and leader of the Alliance 2005–2009.-Education:...
had also been unwell since September 2008 with a benign brain tumour which had kept her out of the public eye for much of the financial crisis. Although initially she had planned to remain in control of the party while fellow Social Democrat Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir served as Prime Minister, Ingibjörg Sólrún announced on 8 March 2009 that she could not guarantee that her health was good enough to continue to serve the public. Jóhanna had previously stated she did not want to become party leader, but changed her mind in mid-March and announced she would stand for party leadership, citing strong encouragement from many party members as the reason. She was elected, as expected, with a strong majority of 97% of the vote at the party congress of 27–29 March 2009.
Two new parties were formed in the aftermath of the January protests: the Citizens' Movement
Citizens' Movement (Iceland)
The Citizens' Movement is a political party in Iceland, founded by a number of grassroots movements in the lead up to the 2009 election during the Global Recession, which hit Iceland particularly hard....
(Borgarahreyfingin) and the Democratic Movement
Democracy Movement (Iceland)
The Democracy Movement is an Icelandic political movement that was established in 1998. In the 2009 Icelandic parliamentary election it received 0.6% of the vote and is thus the second largest party not in parliament.- Links :* *...
(Lýðræðishreyfingin). Both contested all six constituencies in the 2009 elections. A third new party, L-List of Sovereignty Supporters
L-List of Sovereignty Supporters
The L-List of Sovereignty Supporters was a political group which intended to run for the Althing in 2009 Icelandic parliamentary election. Candidates included Bjarni Harðarson, a bookseller from Selfoss and previous MP of Progressive Party, and Þórhallur Heimisson, a priest. It did not refer to...
(L-listi fullveldissinna), withdrew its candidacy on 3 April. The Icelandic Movement – Living Land (Íslandshreyfingin – lifandi land), which had unsuccessfully contested the 2007 election on a green platform, merged into the Social Democratic Alliance at the March 2009 party congress.
Short campaign
Just a week before the election, the Independence Party announced that its party committee on Europe had decided to call for steps to adopt the euro as Iceland's currency (with the help of the IMF). Shortly before the election, Johanna Sigurðardóttir stated that her priority, if returned to government, would be EU membership (she stated she was certain that there would be an agreement with the Left-Green Movement on EU membership), and she predicted that Iceland would adopt the euro within four years. (see Iceland and the European Union).Results
Opinion polling
| Party | 2007 Result | February 2009 | 11–17 March 2009Left coalition still widely liked, IceNews, March 21, 2009 | late March 2009Iceland Places Social Alliance in First Place, Angus Reid Global Monitor, March 30, 2009 | 3 April 2009Latest Iceland opinion poll results, IceNews, April 3, 2009 | 9 April 2009Samfylkingin mælist áfram stærst, Ruv, April 9, 2009 | 16 April 2009 | 21 April 2009Ruling Social Alliance Leads in Iceland, Angus Reid Global Monitor, April 21, 2009 | 21-23 April 2009Síðasta könnun fyrir kosningar, Ruv, April 24, 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independence Party Independence Party (Iceland) The Independence Party is a centre-right political party in Iceland. Liberal conservative and Eurosceptic, it is the second-largest party in the Althing, with sixteen seats. The chairman of the party is Bjarni Benediktsson and vice chairman is Ólöf Nordal.... |
36.6% | 25.8% | 26.5% | 29.1% | 25.4% | 25.7% | 23.3% | 27.3% | 23.2% |
| Left-Green Movement Left-Green Movement The Left-Green Movement is a left-wing political party in Iceland.It was founded in 1999 by a few members of Alþingi who did not approve of the planned merger of the left parties in Iceland that resulted in the founding of the Social Democratic Alliance... |
14.3% | 24.1% | 24.6% | 25.8% | 27.2% | 26% | 28.2% | 25.7% | 26.3% |
| Social Democratic Alliance | 26.8% | 27.7% | 31.2% | 31.7% | 29.4% | 32.6% | 30.7% | 32.2% | 29.8% |
| Progressive Party Progressive Party (Iceland) The Progressive Party is an agrarian, liberal and centrist party in Iceland. The party is a member of the Liberal International. Current chairman of the party is Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. He was elected on January 18, 2009. His predecessor was Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, who only served as... |
11.7% | 15% | 11.3% | 7.5% | 10.7% | 9.8% | 11.1% | 6.8% | 12.0% |
| Liberal Party | 7.3% | 2.5% | 1.3% | 1.8% | — | 1.1% | 2% | 0.7% | 1.5% |
| Citizens' Movement Citizens' Movement (Iceland) The Citizens' Movement is a political party in Iceland, founded by a number of grassroots movements in the lead up to the 2009 election during the Global Recession, which hit Iceland particularly hard.... |
— | 2.5% | — | 3.6% | 4.4% | 4.9% | 6.8% | ||
| L-List of Sovereignty Supporters L-List of Sovereignty Supporters The L-List of Sovereignty Supporters was a political group which intended to run for the Althing in 2009 Icelandic parliamentary election. Candidates included Bjarni Harðarson, a bookseller from Selfoss and previous MP of Progressive Party, and Þórhallur Heimisson, a priest. It did not refer to... |
— | 1.9% | — | ||||||
| Democracy Movement Democracy Movement (Iceland) The Democracy Movement is an Icelandic political movement that was established in 1998. In the 2009 Icelandic parliamentary election it received 0.6% of the vote and is thus the second largest party not in parliament.- Links :* *... |
— | 2.0% | 0.5% | ||||||
External links
- Guide to Iceland's Parliamentary Elections 2009: responses from the political parties to a questionnaire from the Reykjavík Grapevine
- NSD: European Election Database - Iceland publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1991-2009