Icelanders have defied strong wind and rain to vote in a parliamentary election.<br /><br /> Polls show the opposition, led by the anti-establishment Pirate Party, could topple the centre-right coalition.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Faith shaken<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Icelanders’ faith in their political and financial establishment was shaken after the 2008 financial crisis.<br /><br /> It was further eroded this year when senior government figures were named in the Panama Papers on offshore tax havens.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The Pirate Party<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Founded by internet activists and led by poet Birgitta Jonsdottir, the Pirates promise to clean up corruption, look into granting asylum to ex-US spy contractor Edward Snowden and directly involve more people in lawmaking.<br /><br /> “We are not going to flip-flop Iceland. We just want to bring Iceland into the 21st century, and we do that by actually daring to do things differently,” Jonsdottir said after casting her ballot.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> “Change is beautiful,” said leader of Iceland's Pirate Party Birgitta Jonsdottir, as she vores in Reykjavik on Saturday pic.twitter.com/9gpAV5B73Z— Stine Buch Jacobsen (@StineBuch) October 29, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Horse-trading<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The Pirates would be looking to form a majority with the current opposition parties, the Left-Green Movement, the Social Democratic Alliance and Bright Future.<br /><br /> The newly-established Vidreisn (Reform Party) could become kingmaker.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> Benedikt Jóhannesson, formaður vidreisn á kjörstað: „Aldrei verið jafn auðvelt að kjósa“https://t.co/qfEiqJK1gD pic.twitter.com/i89EJ28W4t— Vísir (visir_is) October 29, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> The pro-European, liberal party has not taken sides yet.<br /><br /> However, some analysts predict it would favour the current government as its economic policy leans to the right.<br /><br /> “Icelandic society has been stagnant for a while and it’s important that we get these reforms that have been long awaited. And we have the programme,” said Vidreisn leader Benedikt Johanneson.<br /><br /> The Independence Party remains the biggest party.<br /><br /> However, support for the Pirates has been steady at around 20 percent over the last few months, well above the five percent it won in the 2001 election but below a 40 percent peak.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> Iceland’s Left-Greens in last-minute election surge – #Iceland #GeneralElections #Politics https://t.co/hPmJPHrD7U— Iceland Monitor (@IcelandMonitor) October 19, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Polls close<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Polls were due to close at 2200 GMT.<br /><br /> The first results are expected soon afterwards.<br /><br /> Pre-election polls suggest the Independence and Progressive parties stood to lose their current majority in the Althing.<br /><br /> This means they would have to find a third coalition partner to stay in power.<br /><br /> An October 29 poll showed 36 percent support for the government parties, while the four opposition parties took around 49 percent.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> Pirates poised to take over Iceland — The protest party who stand to win big in Saturday's election https://t.co/gpWSl1C97L— POLITICO Europe (@POLITICOEurope) October 28, 2
