One in six Iceland MPs not running for re-election
Icelandic MPs at work. Photo: Iceland Monitor/Styrmir Kari
Whatever the result in the general elections in Iceland planned for this autumn, things will look quite different afterwards, as one in six current MPs have announced their decision not to run for re-election.
Of a total of 63 MPs, 46 have confirmed they will stand again, and eleven say they will not run this autumn. Of course, not all of these 46 return candidiates will secure re-election, meaning that the new parliament could see a good number of new faces.
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63 MPs sit in Iceland's Alþingi parliament. Photo: Iceland Monitor/Ómar
General elections in 2009 and 2013 both brought with them 27 new MPs of the total of 63.
What with this renewal of MPs, the emergence of the Pirate Party as a major political power, the creation of a new right-leaning pro-EU liberal party (called Viðreisn), and a new president for the first time in twenty years, the Icelandic political landscape looks set to be transformed by the end of the year.
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