With municipal elections less than a month away, the Social Democrats’ long-standing majority hold of Hafnarfjörður appears to be coming to an end, according to the latest poll.
Currently, the 11 seats of Hafnarfjörður town council are comprised of seven Social Democrats, three conservatives and one Leftist-Green. However, a new opinion poll shows that if elections were held today, the Social Dems would win only five seats, while the conservatives would get four seats and the Leftist-Greens would get two.
This has led some to speculate that a new majority comprised of conservatives and Leftist-Greens could be formed in the town. As mind-boggling as that may sound to some readers, a coalition of these two very different has been formed in other municipalities in the past.
Indeed, conservative town councilperson in Hafnarfjörður Valdimar Svavarsson told Fréttablaðið that he believes a partnership with the Leftist-Greens would be the best option for themselves, and the town as a whole. He believes that the townspeople want to “give the current majority a rest” from power.
The Leftist-Greens, however, do not appear entirely excited about working with the conservatives. Councilperson Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir told Fréttablaðið that while they don’t rule anything out, “we have a certain set of political ideals, and we do our work according to them. It will become apparent later which party is most willing to work with us in that regard.” The Social Dems being a left-center party, they would seem to be the more apt choice.