The parliamentary parties of the two government parties, the Social Democrats and the Left-Greens, reviewed the progress of the ongoing talks of a new governmental agenda yesterday, expecting them to conclude next weekend.
Inside Iceland’s Althingi parliament. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
“If an agreement is reached, it will be next weekend,” MP for the Left-Greens Atli Gíslason, who attended yesterday’s meeting, told Fréttabladid. “This EU matter is not completely solved yet but otherwise most things have been completed.”
Gíslason explained that the two parties have agreed to disagree on whether Iceland should join the European Union—the Social Democrats support EU membership while the Left-Greens oppose it—and to submit a parliamentary resolution on EU membership application to the Althingi parliament. “Then people will vote and we will see how it goes.”
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir, who is chairwoman of the Social Democrats, would not be interviewed last night and her fellow party members say that she is the only spokesperson for the party on the progress of the government talks.
According to Fréttabladid’s sources, the most dedicated followers of EU membership within the Social Democrats’ parliamentary group are extremely dissatisfied with the compromise mentioned above.
Click here to read more about the ongoing government talks.
