Katrín Jakobsdóttir was elected chair of the Left-Green Movement with 98 percent of votes at the party’s general meeting last weekend. Björn Valur Gíslason won the position as vice-chair with 57 percent of votes.

Katrín Jakobsdóttir (right) and her predecessor, Steingrímur J. Sigfússon. Photo: Páll Kjartansson/Iceland Review.

At the general meeting of the Independence Party, Bjarni Benediktsson was reelected chair, while party members opted for Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir as vice-chair with 95 percent of votes and Kristján Þór Júlíusson as deputy vice-chair with 59 percent, Morgunblaðið reports.

Both parties set their agendas for the upcoming campaign for the election in April where their positions towards continued European Union negotiations played the biggest part.

The Independence Party decided that EU talks should be terminated. However, a slight majority of Left-Green members determined talks should be completed and the agreement with the EU voted on in a national referendum.

Katrín, the party’s new leader, voted against the proposal. However, she stated that she is content with the outcome.

“It simply shows that party members want to stand by what was decided [in 2009], to apply for membership, so it is being iterated that we’re not changing our policy,” she concluded.

ESA