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| Iceland vote: Centre-right opposition 'wins election' | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Centre-right opposition parties in Iceland are set for a return to power with most votes counted after Saturday's parliamentary election. | |
| With two-thirds of votes counted, the Independence party has 26.5% and the Progressive party 22%, putting them on track for nearly 40 of the 63 seats. | |
| The ruling Social Democrats are trailing with 13.5%. | |
| It is a dramatic comeback for the parties widely blamed for Iceland's near-economic collapse in 2008. | |
| Iceland saw its prosperity evaporate, as the country's three banks collapsed, and the Social Democrats came to power a year later, with a programme of austerity tailored to international lenders' requirements. | |
| 'New investments' | |
| "The Independence party has been called to duty again," said leader Bjarni Benediktsson, who looks likely to become prime minister in the new government. | |
| "We've seen what cutbacks have done for our healthcare system and social benefits ... now it's time to make new investments, create jobs and start growth," he said. | |
| "I'm very pleased," said Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, leader of the Progressive party, as results came in. | |
| The centre-right camp had promised debt relief and a cut in taxes. | |
| The two parties are also seen as Eurosceptic, and their poll success could slow down Iceland's efforts to become a member of the EU. | The two parties are also seen as Eurosceptic, and their poll success could slow down Iceland's efforts to become a member of the EU. |
| The Eurosceptics argue that Iceland already gets most of the benefits of full membership through existing free trade arrangements with the EU and by being part the Schengen visa-free travel zone. | The Eurosceptics argue that Iceland already gets most of the benefits of full membership through existing free trade arrangements with the EU and by being part the Schengen visa-free travel zone. |
| Many Icelanders have become frustrated with the outgoing Social Democrat government, saying that its austerity policies were too painful. | |
| However, some voters remained unconvinced about the centre-right parties' appeal. | However, some voters remained unconvinced about the centre-right parties' appeal. |
| "People seem to have a very short memory," Halldor Gudmundsson, 44, told Reuters news agency after casting his ballot. "These are the parties that got us into the mess in the first place." | |
| A number of new parties - including the computer activist Pirate party - appear unlikely to gain enough votes to enter parliament. |