COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Iceland’s president has accepted the resignation of the volcanic island’s prime minister, who says a new election mostly likely will be held on Nov. 4.
Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson lost his nine-month-old, center-right coalition after one party quit over an attempt by the prime minister’s father to help clear the name of a convicted pedophile.
President Gudni Th. Johannesson met Saturday with Benediktsson and was meeting with other party leaders later in the day.
A small centrist party, Bright Future, quit the ruling coalition Friday after it emerged that Benediktsson’s father had written a letter urging a pardon for Hjalti Sigurjon Hauksson, who was convicted in 2004 of raping his stepdaughter almost every day for 12 years.
Benediktsson took office in January, uniting his Independence Party, the Reform Party and the centrists.
(Copyright (c) 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)