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dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 05:42 AM Apr 2013

Iceland vote: Centre-right opposition wins election

Source: BBC News

Centre-right opposition parties in Iceland are set for a return to power with nearly all votes counted after Saturday's parliamentary election.

The Independence party has 26% and the Progressive party 24%, putting them on track to win nearly 40 of the 63 seats.

The ruling Social Democrats are trailing with around 13%.

It is a dramatic comeback for the parties widely blamed for Iceland's economic meltdown in 2008.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22320282

23 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Iceland vote: Centre-right opposition wins election (Original Post) dipsydoodle Apr 2013 OP
what are you going to do? xchrom Apr 2013 #1
yep daybranch Apr 2013 #3
Icelanders oust government over austerity program xchrom Apr 2013 #2
social democrats daybranch Apr 2013 #4
that kind of stuff has had me stop using 'liberal' as a self descriptive. xchrom Apr 2013 #5
guess that miracle of dissing the banks didn't work out so well... BREMPRO Apr 2013 #11
It might not have... sendero Apr 2013 #14
Iceland threw the bankers in jail. Returned ALL forclosed homes to their owners. forgave all loans. Sunlei Apr 2013 #20
Obviously, they didn't "forgive all loans", because the burden of loans was important muriel_volestrangler Apr 2013 #22
least they did something hey :) you ought to visit,it's a very nice place to visit or take college Sunlei Apr 2013 #23
Weird. Quantess Apr 2013 #6
Being a Schengen member dipsydoodle Apr 2013 #7
There are some immigrants in Iceland Lydia Leftcoast Apr 2013 #18
students and work visa perhaps? Iceland has some very good colleges, inexpensive too. Sunlei Apr 2013 #21
The winning parties are promising less austerity, and debt relief muriel_volestrangler Apr 2013 #8
I hadn't realised dipsydoodle Apr 2013 #9
Iceland's percentage of foreign-born residents is about the same as the UK, France and Germany. pampango Apr 2013 #10
If you translate the percntages dipsydoodle Apr 2013 #12
Yes but most of the 30k will live in Reykjavik so it could easily seem more concentrated not less. Exultant Democracy Apr 2013 #13
I imagine that 30,000 in a very small country can seem like 6 million in a much larger pampango Apr 2013 #15
Is Center-Right Iceland the same as Center-Right U.S.A? Well they do have > YOHABLO Apr 2013 #16
No, center-right parties in Europe are more like mainstream Democrats Lydia Leftcoast Apr 2013 #19
Iceland swings to the anti-EU right in Parliament elections (EU Observer) pampango Apr 2013 #17

daybranch

(1,309 posts)
3. yep
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 06:08 AM
Apr 2013

I amsure glad they have elected this new one. Now if the USA wil wake up and get rid of the austerity idiots in both parties, this country can start solving its own problems.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
2. Icelanders oust government over austerity program
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 05:51 AM
Apr 2013
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/28/uk-iceland-election-idUKBRE93Q0EG20130428

(Reuters) - Fatigued by years of austerity and swayed by promises of debt relief, Icelandic voters dumped the Social Democrats from power on Saturday, returning a centre-right government that ruled over its stunning financial collapse just five years ago.

Once a European financial hub, this windswept north Atlantic island of glaciers, geysers and volcanoes has been limping along for years, still crippled from a crash that brought it to its knees in just a matter of days.

"We are offering a different road, a road to growth, protecting social security, better welfare and job creation," Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson, the favourite to become the next prime minister after his party took first place in the vote, told Reuters as the results were coming in.

"What we won't compromise about is cutting taxes and lifting the living standards of people," said Benediktsson, 43, a former professional soccer player.

daybranch

(1,309 posts)
4. social democrats
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 06:10 AM
Apr 2013

only democrats on social issues but finance hawks right? A government of Max Baucases?
In any case thank you for the news.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
5. that kind of stuff has had me stop using 'liberal' as a self descriptive.
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 06:13 AM
Apr 2013

i use progressive now.

BREMPRO

(2,331 posts)
11. guess that miracle of dissing the banks didn't work out so well...
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 10:44 AM
Apr 2013

promises promises.. so familiar from politicians mouth to suckers ear..

Sunlei

(22,651 posts)
20. Iceland threw the bankers in jail. Returned ALL forclosed homes to their owners. forgave all loans.
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 03:54 PM
Apr 2013

Iceland didn't just 'dis' their bankers. Their courts 'made whole again' as much banker damages as they could for their people.

muriel_volestrangler

(101,157 posts)
22. Obviously, they didn't "forgive all loans", because the burden of loans was important
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 05:27 PM
Apr 2013

in the election:

Normally Iceland's third party, the liberal, mainly rural-based Progressive Party, has soared in popularity as a result of its strong opposition to the government's plan to use public money to reimburse British depositors for money lost in Iceland's banking collapse. Opinion polls suggest the party could win 25-32% of the vote, up from 15% in 2008.

Its leader, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, 38, is campaigning on a proposal to write off up to 20% of Icelanders' mortgage debts by forcing foreign creditors to waive part of their claims against Iceland's failed banks.
...
But Icelanders' debt burden is still painfully high, and for the many that have price index-linked mortgages, this has been exacerbated by stubbornly high inflation. Some feel the government has focused on paying back international lenders at the expense of reversing ordinary peoples' fortunes. The government implemented a tough austerity programme to qualify for IMF loans. International capital controls introduced to prevent foreign creditors from withdrawing their money have been blamed for low foreign investment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22301738


What they did was reduce loans to a maximum of 110% of the home value: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-20/icelandic-anger-brings-record-debt-relief-in-best-crisis-recovery-story.html

The number of bankers that have gone to jail isn't large:

REYKJAVIK | Fri Dec 28, 2012 5:19pm GMT

(Reuters) - Two former executives at an Icelandic bank which collapsed in the 2008 financial meltdown were sentenced to jail on Friday for fraud which led to a 53 million euro loss, in the first major trial of Icelandic bankers linked to the crisis.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/28/uk-iceland-crisis-idUKBRE8BR0EW20121228


Notice that's the first major trial that has resulted in jail sentences, just 4 months ago.

Sunlei

(22,651 posts)
23. least they did something hey :) you ought to visit,it's a very nice place to visit or take college
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 05:33 PM
Apr 2013

classes.

Quantess

(27,630 posts)
6. Weird.
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 06:30 AM
Apr 2013

In the rest of europe, anti-immigration political parties are gaining ground. However, Iceland really doesn't let in very many immigrants, so that can't be the reason... I don't get it.

dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)
7. Being a Schengen member
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 06:36 AM
Apr 2013

allows visa fee entry for some but that doesn't necessarily allow immigrants to work there without permits of some description.
Aside from that the weather there may not suit some. I would have been surprised if they had had any immigrant issues there.

They were bailed out in 2008 to the tune of US$ 4.6 billion by the IMF and other Nordic countries. Whilst they are capable of printing money, they're not in the Euro , I'm not sure how they intend to fund any projected changes now.

Lydia Leftcoast

(48,217 posts)
18. There are some immigrants in Iceland
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 03:15 PM
Apr 2013

On one of the tours I took, the bus driver was from Latvia, and I had lunch in a restaurant that was run by Chinese.

Sunlei

(22,651 posts)
21. students and work visa perhaps? Iceland has some very good colleges, inexpensive too.
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 04:00 PM
Apr 2013

google immigration to Iceland and read the rules.

They are very closed door on immigration policies, always have been.

muriel_volestrangler

(101,157 posts)
8. The winning parties are promising less austerity, and debt relief
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 06:50 AM
Apr 2013

though some think that will end up helping those to took out the most expensive loans, rather than the average Icelander. They are also against joining the EU and, given the uncertainty of the Euro, that looks good to many. An article from yesterday: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/26/iceland-elections-voters-fear-eu

dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)
9. I hadn't realised
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 07:07 AM
Apr 2013

that the private banks which caused their problems had previously been state owned anyway.

pampango

(24,692 posts)
10. Iceland's percentage of foreign-born residents is about the same as the UK, France and Germany.
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 07:12 AM
Apr 2013

Iceland - 10.9%
UK - 11.6%
Germany - 12.0%
France - 11.2%
Sweden - 14.7%
Norway - 11.6%

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-SF-12-031/EN/KS-SF-12-031-EN.PDF

So Iceland immigration laws must be similar to those of the rest of Europe, but I don't see anti-immigration sentiments mentioned in the BBC article in the OP. It seems more connected to anti-austerity.

The centre-right camp has promised debt relief and a cut in taxes. - (That sure has a familiar right-wing ring to it.)

The two parties are also seen as Eurosceptic, and their poll success could slow down Iceland's efforts to become a member of the European Union. - (Conservative eurosceptics across Europe will be happy to see this. They are trying to get their countries out of the EU. Seeing new countries want to join has to hurt those efforts.)

The Eurosceptics argue that Iceland already gets most of the benefits of full membership through existing free trade arrangements with the EU and by being part the Schengen visa-free travel zone.

Many Icelanders have become frustrated with the outgoing Social Democrat government, saying that its austerity policies were too painful.

dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)
12. If you translate the percntages
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 11:08 AM
Apr 2013

if follows that Iceland has got c. 30,000 and the UK for example c. 6 million. I think this is a case where statistics can mislead.

pampango

(24,692 posts)
15. I imagine that 30,000 in a very small country can seem like 6 million in a much larger
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 01:01 PM
Apr 2013

country. The percentage of foreign-born living in a country is a fair representation of the openness of that country to immigration.

 

YOHABLO

(7,358 posts)
16. Is Center-Right Iceland the same as Center-Right U.S.A? Well they do have >
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 02:08 PM
Apr 2013

a national health care system. No insurance companies and no private hospitals.

pampango

(24,692 posts)
17. Iceland swings to the anti-EU right in Parliament elections (EU Observer)
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 02:58 PM
Apr 2013
Centre-right parties have claimed victory in Iceland's parliament elections. With counting underway following Saturday's poll, the Independence and Progressive parties are each set to claim 19 seats in the 63-seat Althing, ending four years of a centre-left coalition. The new government is likely to oppose membership of the EU.

http://euobserver.com/tickers/119968
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