So close! Iceland almost gets female-majority parliament

By EGILL BJARNASON
Associated Press

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland briefly celebrated electing a female-majority parliament Sunday — before a recount showed the result fell just short of that landmark for gender parity in the North Atlantic island nation. A first count had female candidates winning 33 seats in Iceland’s 63-seat parliament, the Althing. Hours later, a recount reversed the outcome in three seats, leaving female candidates with 30 seats. Still, at 48% of the total, that is the highest percentage for women lawmakers in Europe. It is up from 40% at the last election in 2017 The result came in an election that saw centrist parties make the biggest gains. It could take days, if not weeks, for a new government to be formed.