Home Iceland sets snap election for Oct. 28

Iceland sets snap election for Oct. 28

By Reuters September 18, 2017

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Iceland’s President Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson speaks to media in Bessastadir, Iceland September 16, 2017. (Geirix / Reuters)

COPENHAGEN — Iceland will hold a snap parliamentary election on Oct. 28, President Gudni Johannesson said on Monday, after the current government collapsed last week due to a scandal involving the prime minister’s father.

[Iceland may face new election after governing party quits over ‘breach of trust’]

Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson had called for the vote after one party in the ruling coalition quit the government formed less than nine months ago.

The outgoing government would be the shortest-living in Iceland’s history. The previous government was felled by the Panama Papers scandal over offshore tax havens.

Reporting by Elias Thorsson.

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