Left-Green Movement withdraws from Icelandic interim government, marking unprecedented political shift

Political analysts highlight the unprecedented nature of the current situation in Iceland, where a ruling political party, the Left-Green Movement, has decided not to participate in the interim government. Ragnhildur Helgadóttir, a law professor and rector of the University of Reykjavík, noted that there are no historical precedents for such an occurrence.

Starting tomorrow, members of the Left-Green Movement will step down from their ministerial roles and revert to being regular members of parliament. Ragnhildur emphasized that while there have been instances where ministers expressed a lack of interest in continuing, it has always led to their eventual participation in the interim administration.

Currently, the Left-Green Movement is represented in the government by three ministers: Svandís Svavarsdóttir, the Minister of Infrastructure; Guðmund Ingi Guðbrandsson, the Minister of Social Affairs; and Bjarkeyju Olsen Gunnarsdóttir, the Minister of Food. They will all change their status to regular MPs. Ragnhildur clarified that they will not be required to resign, given that the outgoing Prime Minister, Bjarni Benediktsson, has already requested to dissolve the government.

The Progressive Party has confirmed its continued participation in the interim government, while discussions regarding the redistribution of the Left-Green Movement’s ministries between the Independence Party and the Progressive Party are ongoing. Details on how this transition will occur remain unclear.