Leader of Iceland's Right may have nobody to form a coalition with

Leader of the Independence Party, Bjarni Benediktsson arrived for a meeting with President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson today at 5.30 pm at Bessastadir, the Presidential residence. Benediktsson, speaking to press, said that he had not returned the mandate to form a government but that the ball was with the President.

Earlier today, formal negotiations between three Icelandic parties on forming a new government broke down.

Winners of the general elections on 29 October, the Independence Party, have been in talks since Friday with Regeneration and Bright Future on the possibility of forming a centre-right coalition.

Benediktsson said that he has spoken with other party leaders today and particularly named Katrín Jakobsdóttir, leader of the Left Green Alliance and Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, leader of the Progressive party. He further added that he did not know what would happen next.

He criticised the fact that before the election people had spoken of cooperation but immediately after the election people had begun to eliminate cooperation with other parties.

He furthermore stated that he had been prepared for talks with all of them but that he had had a hard time getting things moving since being given the mandate to form a government.

He added that he had no assurance from any party that they were ready for discussions that could lead to a majority. "There is no live discussion which I am a part of." He does not exclude the possibility of the President giving the mandate to somebody else and admitted his disappointment in not being able to form a government.