The President will talk to other chairmen and take her time
Halla Tómasdóttir, the President of Iceland, spoke to the leaders of the Progressive Party and the Left-Green Movement last night. She then says she plans to take the time to talk to other party leaders in parliament today and that she will then assess the state of affairs before taking a stand on Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson's motion to dissolve the parliament.
This was revealed in Tómasdóttir's case after she met with Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson in Bessastaðir this morning.
Benediktsson headed to Bessastaðir to present his proposal for dissolving parliament and having general elections at the end of November.
Tómasdóttir addressed journalists shortly after the meeting and referred to the law stating that if she were to agree to the motion to dissolve parliament, an election should be called within 45 days of announcing the dissolution of parliament. She then told Benediktsson that she had proposed that the current government sit for elections, as Benediktsson had previously reported that he would propose.
Didn't take questions
She said that she had a conversation with the chairmen of the other ruling parties last night and that she intended to take the time to talk to the other chairmen of parties sitting in Alþingi as a result.
"After those meetings, I will evaluate the situation before taking a position on the proposal. I will then explain my decision later this week."
She finally said she would not take any questions. "Therefore I have nothing to add to this at the moment."