The majority of MPs in the Icelandic parliament, Althingi, approved the proposed amendments to the government’s bill* on state guarantee on the borrowing of the Icelandic Depositors’ and Investors’ Guarantee Fund to compensate Landsbanki’s Icesave depositors in the UK and the Netherlands late on Friday night.
Inside Althingi. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
Forty-nine MPs voted for the amendments: MPs of the two coalition parties, the Social Democrats and the Left-Greens, in addition to the MPs of the Independence Party, Thráinn Bertelsson, who isn’t associated with any party, and Thór Saari of the Civic Movement, Morgunbladid reports.
Fourteen MPs voted against the amendments: the MPs of the Progressive Party and Birgitta Jónsdóttir of the Civic Movement. Margrét Tryggvadóttir of the Civic Movement abstained. The Progressive Party’s proposal that the bill be dismissed was rejected with 48 votes against ten, while two MPs abstained.
Bjarni Benediktsson, chairman of the Independence Party, the largest opposition party, said before the voting on Friday that although his party supported the amendments made to the original bill by the parliament’s Economic and Tax Committee, further changes were required.
The disclaimers that were added to the agreement between Icelandic, British and Dutch authorities on Icesave include that economic growth determines the annual down payments of the loans from British and Dutch authorities and that no payments will be made if economic growth is halted.
Click here to read more about Icesave.
*An earlier version of this news story wrongly stated that the Icesave bill had been passed while only the amendments to it were approved. The bill is still being debated at parliament and the final vote has yet to take place. Click here to read more about the amendments on the website of Althingi (under “Tilkynningar”).
