Iceland sets snap election for October 28: president

Iceland's President Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson speaks to media in Bessastadir, Iceland September 16, 2017. REUTERS/Geirix

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Iceland will hold a snap parliamentary election on Oct. 28, President Gudni Johannesson said on Monday, after the current government collapsed last week due to a scandal involving the prime minister's father. Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson had called for the vote after one party in the ruling coalition quit the government formed less than nine months ago. The outgoing government would be the shortest-living in Iceland's history. The previous government was felled by the Panama Papers scandal over offshore tax havens. (Reporting by Elias Thorsson, writing by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)