Governing Coalition Looks Set to Win

Iceland’s center-right governing coalition, campaigning on a record of four years of strong growth, looked set to retain power in parliamentary elections, according to early results. Prime Minister David Oddsson’s promise of continued stability and prosperity for the North Atlantic island, coupled with his refusal to match opposition spending pledges, won the support of the voters, who rejected the left-wing opposition Alliance’s charge that wealth had not been doled out fairly. With about half of the votes counted, Oddsson’s Independence Party was projected on state television to have 26 seats in the 63-seat Althing, the world’s oldest parliament, up from 25 at the last election in 1995.