Iceland poll opens path to power for charismatic leftist

Bloomberg

Iceland’s election delivered
a path to power for the nation’s charismatic left-wing leader, Katrin Jakobsdottir,
after a spate of scandals soured voters on the ruling conservatives.
Saturday’s vote handed a potential center-left coalition a narrow majority, making the Left Green leader the most likely to get the nod to form
a government, according to Stefanía Oskarsdottir, an assistant professor in political science at the University of Iceland. The 41-year-old is popular, with a recent poll showing one in two voters want her as the premier.
She has “more options”
than Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, Oskarsdottir said. With a program calling for tax increases on the wealthy, Jakobsdottir would represent a shift from the
former government which
collapsed last month amid a controversy over granting clemency to a convicted child molester. The election comes at a crucial time for Iceland’s economy, which is showing signs of a slowdown after tourism-led boom.