Reykjavik, Iceland
Leftists out: Icelanders have booted out their center-left, pro-European government and returned to power the center-right forces that presided over the disastrous 2009 banking collapse that left the country nearly bankrupt. After being elected just after the crash, the leftist coalition led by Johanna Sigurdardottir, the country’s first gay prime minister, imposed fiscal austerity and led negotiations aimed at eventually joining the European Union and adopting the euro. But some Icelandic economists now say the country would have been even worse off in 2009 if it had had the euro. As if to underscore the electorate’s alienation, the Pirate Party, dedicated to Internet freedom, took 5.1 percent of the vote, enough to capture three of the 63 seats in parliament.
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Grand coalition: Italy has its first grand coalition government since 1947. Center-left leader Enrico Letta has become prime minister, but his deputy is Angelino Alfano, a loyal protégé of Silvio Berlusconi. That means the center-right billionaire showman and four-time prime minister, who was forced from office in 2011 amid economic calamity and sexual scandal, once again has enormous influence in the government. The loser in the new setup is Beppe Grillo, whose Five Star Movement came in third in February elections with an anti-establishment message; now it’s sidelined, as the two main establishment parties have joined forces to rule.