Iceland PM pulls the plug on ruling coalition, snap election likely on November 30

Iceland appears headed for a snap election after Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson pulled the plug on the Nordic nation’s fragile governing coalition.

The prime minister is expected to ask President Halla Tómasdóttir on Monday to formally dissolve Iceland’s parliament, the Althingi, for an election on Nov. 30, national broadcaster RUV reported.

Benediktsson’s center-right Independence Party has governed since April with the centrist Progressive Party and the Left Green Movement. He said the coalition partners disagreed over issues including immigration, energy policy and the economy.

Iceland is a wind-lashed island near the Arctic Circle with a population of about 385,000. The country suffered through years of economic upheaval after its debt-swollen banks collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis, but has become a major draw for tourists eager to see its glaciers and waterfalls, the Northern Lights and its frequently active volcanoes.

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