The Prime Minister of Iceland Geir Haarde has called an early election for May 9th, 2009. Mr. Haarde will not be running as the leader of the Independance Party.

He has stated that medical issues with a tumor in his throat, which has been discovered to be malignant will prevent him from running again. The governing coalition would not have needed to call an election until 2011 under its mandate from the 2007 elections. Mr. Haarde will be stepping down prior to the election and a new party chairman will lead the party in the elections. The BBC reports that, “On Wednesday, angry protesters surrounded Mr Haarde’s car outside the government building in the capital Reykjavik, banging on the vehicle’s windows and pelting it with eggs.” This comes as no surprise considering the complete lack of stability in the economy.

This election is a direct result of the governments inability to slow the collapse of the Krona as well as the lack of trust in the national economy. In October of last year the Government was forced to nationalize Icelands largest bank. Even more worrying to the economic landscape there has been serious discussion of the adoption of the USD, the Euro, the Norwegian Crown or even the Canadian Dollar.

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