For the first time in a European country, women will be a majority in the new Icelandic Parliament, according to the final results of the legislative elections published this Sunday.
Of the 63 seats in the Althingi, 33 will be occupied by women, representing 52.3% of the hemicycle, after the scrutiny on Saturday.
According to data compiled by the World Bank, no country in Europe had crossed the symbolic 50% barrier, with Sweden so far in first place with 47% female MPs.
Despite the fact that several parties reserve a minimal proportion of women among their own candidates, there is no law imposing a quota in legislative elections in Iceland, according to the democratic organization International Idea.
Globally, five other countries currently have at least half as many women in Parliament, according to the International Inter-Parliamentary Union: Rwanda (61%), Cuba (53%), Nicaragua (51%), Mexico (50%) and the Emirates United Arabs (50%).
Iceland is often at the forefront in the cause of women.
In October 1975, the country was the scene of an unprecedented major women’s strike to demand better wages and higher positions.
This Nordic country of 370,000 inhabitants was also the first to democratically elect a woman as head of state in 1980.
Most recently, since 2018, Iceland has implemented a pioneering pay equity law and has topped the World Economic Forum’s ranking for gender equality for 12 consecutive years.
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