Iceland appears to be preparing for snap elections after Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson terminated the fragile ruling coalition, according to AP News.
Benediktsson asked President Halla Tómasdóttir to formally dissolve Iceland’s parliament, the Althingi, on Monday. The president said she would meet with other party leaders before making the announcement later this week. Elections are expected to be held on 30 November.
The Prime Minister’s Independence Party ruled the country since April along with the Progressive Party and the Left Green Movement, with coalition partners disagreeing on immigration, energy policy and the economy.
Iceland endured years of economic turmoil after its debt-ridden banks collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis. Now the windswept island near the Arctic Circle, with a population of about 385,000, has become a tourist attraction for its glaciers and waterfalls, northern lights and often-active volcanoes.
However, repeated eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula in the southwest displaced several thousand people and strained public finances.
