Sept 27, 2021: Iceland appeared to have almost elected Europe’s first female-majority parliament, but a recount showed it fell just short of that landmark for gender parity.
Iceland briefly celebrated the election of a women-majority parliament on Sunday, before a recount indicated that there will still be more men than women in the chamber.
In the preliminary vote count, it appeared that women won 33 seats in Iceland’s 63-seat parliament, called the Althang, in an election where the centrist parties had the largest gains.
Hours later, a recount in northwestern Iceland reversed the results, leaving the female candidates with 30 seats.
Still, the final number of seats stands at about 48% of the total, which is the highest percentage of women legislators in Europe. On the continent, Sweden and Finland have 47% and 46% women’s representation, respectively.
According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Rwanda leads the world with women representing 61% of its chamber of deputies, followed by Cuba, Nicaragua and Mexico at 50%.
According to Inter-parliamentary Union, worldwide, only a quarter of lawmakers are women.
Iceland, a North Atlantic island nation of 371,000, was named the world’s 12th most gender egalitarian country in a report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in March.
Iceland’s voting system is divided into six regions and the recount in western Iceland took place after fierce competition in the northwestern constituency.
The move did not affect the overall election results.
The three parties in the outgoing coalition government, led by Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir won a total of 37 seats in Saturday’s vote, two more than in the last election.
The Coalition has given Iceland four years of stability after 10 years of political turmoil, but Katrin Jakobsdottir’s left-wing movement has waned after losing ground to its right-wing partners, both of which have staged strong protests.
The Left Green Movement won just eight seats, three fewer than in 2017, raising questions about Jakobsdottir’s future as prime minister.
The Center Right Independence Party won 16 seats, seven of which are held by women. The Center Progressive Party made the biggest gains, winning 13 seats, five more than last time.
The three parties have not announced whether they will run together for a second term, but given the overwhelming support of voters, that seems likely. It will take days, not weeks, to form and announce a new government.
Stay tuned to BaaghiTV for latest news and Updates!
Angela Merkel’s party loses to Social Democrats in closely fought election
