Iceland's centre-left government holds a comfortable lead in opinion polls ahead of an early election on April 25, Reuters quoted a poll by Gallup-Capacent as showing today. If the result of the vote were to mirror that of the latest poll, conducted for State Radio and Morgunbladid newspaper, then the current caretaker government would get 40 out of 63 seats in the parliament, or Althing. The Independence Party would be the largest opposition party with 17 members, while the Progressives would have six. A caretaker government of the Social Democrats and Left-Greens has been in power since January, when an Independence Party-led coalition collapsed after protests over its failure to avert a meltdown of the island's economy. Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir's Social Democrats have said they would be willing to remain in coalition with the Left-Greens after the election. Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson, the leader of the Left-Greens, has also said he wants the partnership to continue.
