Chairman of the Independence Party Bjarni Benediktsson and the party’s representatives on the Althingi parliament’s Budget Committee want to legalize the new agreement with the UK and the Netherlands on a the payback scheme for Landsbanki’s Icesave deposits.
Bjarni Benediktsson. Photo by Páll Kjartansson.
“My conclusion is that it is more sensible to resolve this issue than testing our rights [in court],” Benediktsson reasoned at parliament yesterday. “There is a gigantic difference between the conclusion that we have here and the one which the coalition majority wanted to legalize in 2009.”
Benediktsson said this was a cool-headed decision, arguing that taking the dispute to court is too risky and it is unlikely that a more favorable agreement could be reached, Fréttabladid reports.
Not all members of the party agree with the chairman and those who have been critical of negotiating the Icesave repayment were reluctant to reveal their position yesterday.
“For the time being I will not comment on the conclusion my fellow party members on the Budget Committee reached regarding Icesave. My position will be revealed at the voting,” said Independence Party MP Sigurdur Kári Kristjánsson.
Click here to read more about Icesave and here to read about the terms of the new agreement.
