Despite some back-pedalling from ruling coalition MPs, most Icelanders want them to stick by their promise of early elections.
According to the results of a new poll conducted by 365 Media, 69.5% of respondents said they want the government to stand by their promise of early elections this autumn. 30.5% said they want to stick to the original plan of elections in the spring of 2017.
The question of early elections has been largely up in the air since the idea was first proposed last April. At that time, most Icelanders favoured immediate elections. Despite vague assurances – with still no exact date given nearly two months after the fact – Progressive MPs were fast to downplay or dismiss the need for early elections.
In fact, former Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson – whose resignation in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations precipitated the call for early elections – has recently changed his tune, saying that they would be “inconvenient”.
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Bjarni Benediktsson has said that early elections are dependent upon the ruling coalition being able to pass all the legislation they want to pass first.
As such, Icelanders are still waiting to hear an actual date for parliamentary elections.
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