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The coalition of the Social Democrats and Leftist-Greens seems once again threatened with dissolution, according to sources within the government.
The two parties have had disagreements with each other in the past on a number of issues, from the EU to Icesave. Most recently, three MPs from the Leftist-Green party abstained from voting in support of the government’s budget bill, which ended up narrowly passing.
Because of this, Leftist-Green MP Lilja Mósesdóttir – who was one of the three who abstained – told Fréttablaðið yesterday that she had considered leaving the party altogether, although she has stated that she supports the coalition.
Another of the MPs from the party who abstained from voting on the budget, Atli Gíslason, recently told the news website Smugan that the coalition had actually reached out to the Progressive Party to try to get further support for the budget. Atli said he found it strange that the coalition would put more effort into trying to appease an opposition party than MPs within the government’s ranks.
Leftist-Green MP Árni Þór Sigurðsson, one of the staunchest supporters of the current government, said in an interview that he is not sure the coalition will survive in its current form. He would not comment on any further speculations as to what form the coalition could take.
Not everyone is in agreement that the coalition is unstable, however, and disagreements within the Leftist-Green party are not new. Current Minister of Justice Ögmundur Jónasson left his previous position as Minister of Health in 2009 due to his dissatisfaction with the previous Icesave deal.
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