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Article snippet: Iceland’s governing conservative Independence Party held off a stiff election challenge from the Left-Green Movement to maintain the most seats in Parliament, results released on Sunday showed. But it was unclear who would receive the mandate to form the next government. President Gudni Johannesson would normally call upon the leader of the biggest party. But the Independence Party, which is led by Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, emerged somewhat weakened. It lost five seats even though it won just over 25 percent of Saturday’s vote in the second snap election in Iceland in a year. The conservatives secured 16 seats in the 63-seat Parliament, known as the Althing. It was a disappointing performance for a party that has been involved in nearly every government since Iceland cut its last political ties to Denmark in 1944. Mr. Benediktsson played down his party’s showing, telling journalists, “Elections are about getting votes, and we got the most.” But it was also a low point for the conservatives’ coalition partners. The center-right Revival Party lost seats it had won last year, clinging to just four seats. Bright Future Party, a hipsterish party whose members shun the idea of becoming career politicians, lost every one of its four seats. One unlikely winner among the smaller parties was the former prime minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson’s newly formed Center Party. His dark-horse campaign led his populist outfit to secure seven seats. Mr. Gunnlaugsson wo... Link to the full article to read more