Election results

I was unfortunately too tired to go to a birthday/election party I was invited to in the city last night (thought it best to go into today with a clear head!), but I am most eager to see what the upshot is this morning. With 97% returns counted, it looks like the two parties currently in power, Samfylkingur and VG will be able to hold their position, now with a majority of 34 Thingmen out of 63. But it seems to me it would be a very nice gesture, after everything that happened last fall, if these two parties would invite the new popular movement party, Borgarhreyfing, to join them. That party looks to get 4 Althingi seats, and in the process deflating several other wore out fringe parties. In my opinion, VG and S would be sending a clear message about their belief in democracy and in reform if they would offer Borgarhreyfing a real say in the new government, including a seat on the cabinet, and perhaps having them be in charge of the Constitutional Committee that many Icelanders have been counting on. 

That Samfylking picked up 2 seats is a bit surprising, given their role, albeit as an underdog, in the previous government. But I think in this case the voters (or at least me) were not looking back, but rather looking forward to the prospect of joining the E.U. I would interpret their success as a clear message from the voters about the necessity of doing that soon.  

VG picked up 5 seats, so they are clearly on their way up. 

Comments

ג. ג. said…
This is a chance for Iceland to open a new page in its history.
April 26, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Lissy said…
Indeed, I am really looking forward to seeing what this new government will accomplish. Read something about wind generators recently, and I was thinking, wow, why hasn't anyone already done that? Simple things that get overlooked when one is trying to apply a readymade model from elsewhere here.
April 26, 2009 at 10:52 AM
Valur said…
Yes, I got a bit curious last night about if Borgarahreyfingin would be approached, given all the previous talk about uprooting flokksræði in Iceland.
April 26, 2009 at 12:39 PM
Anonymous said…
well, a three-party coalition is always more difficult than 2 (and yes, the Borgarahreyfing must be counted as a political party). Let's see how they do in opposition.
April 28, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dett í, ofan á, úr, út

I´m not sure if someone had dett í (gotten drunk), or if það bara dett ofan á (it just sort of happened), or if some dett úr (forgot), but at any rate, my household goods dett út (have disappeared). Let's review the chronology here. Early August packers from the shipping company arrive at the apartment in Moraga. They load my 4 large plastic containers and 8 cardboard boxes, plus one baby crib, into their truck. I watch my things depart. In September, I ask the friendly girl (Magie is her name) if she happens to know when I might expect my stuff. Late September she tells me. I am most impressed. Extremely so. Mid October rolls around, and I have not gotten a call. And it occurs to me that I am going to be traveling through November. Hmm. So I call again. Well, yes, she tells me, looks like your shipment should arrive on the 31st of October. Now here I admit that maybe I was a little lacks. I had a lot to do before my trip, and so when they did not call me, I did not follow
Read more

Twitterverse

Although this is a function of the specific feeds I have chosen to follow, I have observed that Icelanders are much funnier on Twitter than Americans are. Americans tweet their opinions on political matters in categorical, condemnatory terms, or they use Twitter to bolster their professional expertise, a la LinkedIn. So kudos to the Icelanders for understanding the potential of the medium and maximizing it.
Read more

The sky weeps

For the last few days, the sky here in the San Francisco Bay has been filled with smoke, blown this way from a fire 100 miles away. At least 40 people died in that fire, a whole town destroyed, and many others missing. One reporter described the sky over the town as raining down ash. On this day, the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I, the news in the US is filled with stories of the man who calls himself President, unwilling to step out into the rain to lay a wreath. Unwilling to partake in our communal, world wide weep. And I'm thinking about my trip to Iceland on Thursday, of the carbon dioxide the plane will be spewing into the sky. My third round trip from SF to Iceland this year, and I don't have anyway to make up for my carbon footprint. But in all honesty, I'm also wondering how bad the weather will be, if I'll have to be out braving wind and snow for the shot the documentary film maker wants, of me walking around outside. Will the landscape reme
Read more