Iceland's President calls Referendum
Iceland’s President Olafur R. Grimsson will give his country’s voters the final say on repaying about $5 billion in debts owed to the U.K. and the Netherlands to cover depositor claims. (HE'S RIGHT!)
Mr Grimsson said it was important that the public had its say (HE'S RIGHT!)Iceland's president has called a referendum on the latest plan to repay the UK and Netherlands the 4bn euros (£3.36bn) they lost when the Icesave bank collapsed.
President Olafur Grimsson said the new deal, which was approved by parliament last week, requires public approval. (HE'S RIGHT!)
It is the second time in just over a year that Mr Grimmson has vetoed an Icesave deal and demanded a referendum. (HE'S RIGHT!)
Grimsson’s announcement yesterday that he won’t sign a depositor accord struck between the three countries’ governments in December follows lawmaker approval of the bill. He told reporters he was responding to popular demand for a referendum after more than 42,000 of Iceland’s 318,000 inhabitants signed a petition asking him to block the accord. Forty-four of the Reykjavik-based parliament’s 63 lawmakers voted for the bill on Feb. 16.
“There is support for the view that the people should once again, as before, act together with the parliament as the legislator in this matter,” Grimsson said.
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