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Iceland government collapses, new election set for November

Prime minister said there were disagreements between the three governing parties on issues regarding asylum seekers and energy

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Prime Minister of Iceland Bjarni Benediktsson. Photo:  AFP

Iceland is on track for snap elections after Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson announced that the country’s governing coalition has ended.

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Benediktsson, head of the conservative Independence Party, told reporters on Sunday that tensions had mounted within the left-right coalition on issues ranging from foreign policy to asylum seekers and energy.

The coalition had been made up of the Independence Party, the Left-Green Movement and the centre-right Progressive Party.

The issues “were less discussed in the last election than need to be discussed now”, Benediktsson said, emphasising “how different the (Left-Green) Movement’s vision for the future is, compared to what I want to stand for”.

“It is best if the government has a common vision,” he told the online media site Visir, adding: “It’s disappointing when projects run aground or circumstances change.”

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He said he would meet Monday with Iceland’s President Halla Tomasdottir to submit a proposal for the dissolution of parliament and parliamentary elections at the end of November.

Benediktsson, one of Iceland’s most experienced politicians, has previously served as finance minister, foreign minister and prime minister.

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