Yesterday, MPs of all the parties in parliament, except the Democratic Alliance, formally requested that the parliamentary resolution suggesting Iceland’s application to the EU be withdrawn, Fréttabladid reports.
The mover of the resolution is Unnur Brá Konrádsdóttir, MP for the Independence Party, along with Ásmundur Einar Dadason, of the Left Greens, Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, party group chairman of the Progressive Party and Birgitta Jónsdóttir, party group chairman of Hreyfingin.
Althingi. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
“I support the resolution because I think it is a mistake to bargain given the current situation,” says Bjarni Benediktsson, leader of the Independence Party.
Yesterday, the termination of this session of parliament was negotiated as well as what matters have to be concluded before MPs begin their summer vacation. Fréttabladid’s sources believe that it is impossible for the resolution to be taken into consideration before the end of parliament.
On July 16th 2009, parliament agreed to allow the government to apply for EU membership. Thirty-three MPs voted in favor of the proposal but 28 voted against it. Two MPs did not vote.
In a new poll for web magazine andriki.is, just fewer than 58 percent believed that the Icelandic government should retract its application for EU membership. Benediktsson says that the results are not surprising; it appears to be dawning on the nation that the government’s prioritization had been wrong. The Independence Party has suggested a national vote on the matter, stating it would be a mistake to enter the negotiation without a general consensus of the nation.
Leader of the Progressive Party, Sigmundur Davíd Gunnlaugsson, says that the poll’s results are even more conclusive than he had expected. He says they are consistent with his words when the application was debated in parliament and that it is not the right time for this kind of negotiation.
Birgitta Jónsdóttir, member of Hreyfingin, wants a national referendum and has formally proposed a bill on the matter. According to her, such a referendum should have taken place before Althingi discussed the matter.
PM Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir and Minister of Finance Steingrímur J. Sigfússon were unavailable for comment yesterday.
