In the wake of the Samherji scandal, the Constitutional Society; Efling Trade-Union; the Icelandic Disability Alliance; the Women’s Association for a New Constitution; Gagnsæi, the Anti-Corruption Association; along with private citizens and guilds will be holding an anti-corruption protest on Austurvöllur square tomorrow. The protest will begin at 14:00.
Approximately 1,200 people have expressed interest in the protest on its Facebook page. Over 700 people intend on attending. The text on the page reads as follows:
“Citizens must take matters into their own hands! It’s up to us to decide whether we live in a democracy or a plutocracy.
Namibian citizens are robbed by a major Icelandic fishing company. Icelandic citizens are robbed by a major Icelandic fishing company, which has no qualms about bribery.
This theft occurs under the aegis of a dated Constitution, under an economy that places too much power in the hands of the wealthy, and under a political class that is too submissive to small and powerful fishing companies.”
Organisers demand that that Minister of Fisheries, Kristján Þór Júlíusson, resign; that Parliament legally adopt a new constitution, which was approved by referendum in 2012 (wherein natural resources are declared “national property”; and that the profits from natural resources be pooled into a public fund dedicated to societal development and to ensure a decent standard of living for all.”
Katrín Oddsdóttir will preside over the protest. Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir (Chair of Efling Trade-Union), journalist Atli Þór Fanndal, and lawyer Þórður Már Jónsson will also be speaking. The band Hatari is slated to perform.
