Only in a literate constitutional nation of 317,000 could this happen. Twenty-three percent of Icelanders have told their fraudulent banksters to go screw themselves by signing a petition asking their president Olafur R. Grimsson to not sign a law passed by parliament. The law imposed "draconian" terms for paying back the money Dutch and British citizens lost in the
Icesave scheme. But under the Icelandic constitution, citizens can demand that their president submit legislation to a referendum before it is passed into law. Activists say about 70% of the populace is against making restitution on behalf of bankrupt private banks, Landsbanki and Kaupthing. However, recent polls may show voter resolve fading, perhaps because of the negative reaction from the rest of Europe. Iceland is negotiating a $2.5 billion bailout with Nordic countries, but the deal is contingent on the passage of the Icesave bill. Apparently so is Iceland's EU membership application. British and Dutch finance ministers are grinding their teeth over the taxpayer revolt. The British minister of finance said a no vote would be tantamount to saying Iceland did not want to be included in the global finance system. British PM Gordon Brown used his nation's terrorism laws to freeze Icelandic assets in Britain when the banks collapsed; a move which irritated many Icelanders. Fitch Ratings has downgraded Iceland's bonds to "junk" status. Iceland's Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir's office said the referendum vote will take place in late February, and any remaining bank assets currently valued at ₤2.35bn would be part of the ₤3.4bn debt repayment package.
[photo credit: protestors outside the Althing, Halldor Kolbeinsson]
