The parliamentary Progressive Party has voted to remove the 110-year secrecy period currently in place for all documentation regarding the resolution of the estates of the bankrupt Icelandic banks, from the 2008 crash to today. The Progressive Party MPs say they hope for a wider backing from members of other parties and are, either way, prepared to submit a bill to parliament to remove the secrecy.
Vigdís Hauksdóttir, chair of the parliamentary finance committee, and Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarsson, deputy chair, have criticized the fact that all documentation regarding the re-privatization of the banks under the previous government, is stored in a secret room which only MPs are allowed to enter, RÚV reports.
Pirate Party MP Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson has also been calling for more people to be allowed to see the documents. The parliamentary Progressive Party voted at its meeting yesterday to remove the secrecy rule.
“We consider it important to go into these nationally-important issues, including those relating to the settlement of the bankruptcy estate of the failed banks. We of course welcome the fact that there are discussions in society and these issues need to be examined. It must be from the collapse and right up to the present day, and the key point is to lift this 110-year confidentiality clause on data relating to these issues, “says Einar Ásmundur Daðason, Chairman of the Progressive Party.
Will his party put forth a bill to this effect? “We are ready with a bill to this effect but we naturally hope to be able to amass broad (cross-party) political consensus.”
How does this relate to the ongoing questions surrounding ministers and offshore businesses? “It is of course important that everything that relates to the estates of these failed banks is put on the table. There has been discussion of these bankruptcy estates for a while and key to this is removing the 110-year secrecy of all matters relating to them. Right from the collapse to the present day, and people really should be able to agree on that, “said Ásmundur.
