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Roughly 80 percent of voters in yesterday’s advisory referendum voted in favor of Iceland declaring natural resources that are not privately owned national property, ruv.is reports.
Fishing in Lake Þingvallavatn. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
As reported earlier, about two thirds of Icelanders voted in favor of adopting the recommendations of the Constitutional Council in drafting a new Constitution.
The ballot included six questions to which voters could either respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Following are the results from four of six electoral districts. Counting of the remaining votes is expected to be completed this afternoon.
1. Do you wish the Constitution Council’s proposals to form the basis of a new draft Constitution?
Yes: 65.9%
No: 34.1%
2. In the new Constitution, do you want natural resources that are not privately owned to be declared national property?
Yes: 81.0%
No: 19.0%
3. Would you like to see provisions in the new Constitution on an established (national) church in Iceland?
Yes: 57.4%
No: 42.6%
4. Would you like to see a provision in the new Constitution authorizing the election of particular individuals to the Alþingi more than is the case at present?
Yes: 76.4%
No: 23.6%
5. Would you like to see a provision in the new Constitution giving equal weight to votes cast in all parts of the country?
Yes: 56.2%
No: 43.8%
6. Would you like to see a provision in the new Constitution stating that a certain proportion of the electorate is able to demand that issues be put to a referendum?
Yes: 70.8%
No: 29.2%
As the referendum is non-binding, Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, will ultimately decide whether the draft will be used as a guideline for a new Constitution, which would replace the existing Constitution from 1944.
Chair of the Administration and Supervision Committee of Alþingi Valgerður Bjarnadóttir says a bill for a new Constitution could be ready within two weeks, ruv.is reports. According to Valgerður, the bill would be presented to parliament for debate before being put to a vote; a process she believes could be finished before the parliamentary elections in the spring. Voting on a new Constitution, she says, could be held alongside the 2013 parliamentary elections.
Turnout in yesterday’s referendum was highest in the greater Reykjavík area with 51.4 percent, and lowest in the South electoral district with 43.18 percent.
Click here to read more about yesterday’s referendum and here to read more about the draft.
ZR
Icelandic Minister for Foreign Affairs Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson attended an annual consultative meeting last weekend with colleagues from the Nordic and several African countries, as announced in a press release from the Minstry of Foreign Affairs.
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From many salmon rivers anglers are reporting great opening days. Reykjavík Citizen of the year caught the first salmn in Ellidaár in Reykjavík this morning.
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The Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved new names for nine craters on Mercury including one for Icelandic littereture Nobel Prize winner Halldór Laxness.
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A petition urging the government to reconsider a proposed bill, in which the terms of the law requiring fishing companies to pay a tariff for their use of Iceland’s fishing resources are to be changed, has been signed by more than 11,000 people.
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The 2013 June-July issue of Iceland Review is out. Themed ‘We Are Young’ the magazine celebrates the arrival of summer by interviewing young energetic Icelanders who excel in art, sports, business and politics—and Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the youngest PM in the republic’s history and the world’s youngest ruling state leader. Click here to take a look at a selection of the current issue and here to subscribe to the magazine.
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amiina
The road to Höfn, a 1,690-person harbor town by the fjord Hornafjörður, is lined with reindeer. Whole herds of the wild horned animals rest peacefully on withered pastures, grace next to sheep and horses and bounce along the road. Soon, Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier and the region’s biggest attraction, comes into view. Looming over Höfn, its outlet glaciers flow down from the mountains on which the bright white icecap rests.
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Sin Fang will celebrate the release of his third album with a release concert in Iðnó on June 12. Flowers was released in February by Morr Music and has been well received by music enthusiasts and critics alike. The concert will be supported by Vök, this year’s winners of the Icelandic Music Experiments.
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