Preliminary numbers are in on the Icesave agreement referendum. Of the first 35708 votes counted, 56.8% have voted ‘No’ and 43.2% have voted ‘Yes’. While these are only the initial results, the No camp is making a stronger showing than recent Gallup polls indicated.
Following this initial count, the leaders of Iceland’s political parties shared their reactions on state broadcasting television. Conservative chairman Bjarni Benediktsson said, “The government is getting spanked for its platform. They do not trust the people to lead.” He added that he would like to have new elections as soon as possible.
His colleague in the opposition, Movement MP Margrét Tryggvadóttir disagreed, saying that she believes the government should finish the term for the sake of the new constitutional committee, but added, “these results indicate a deep divide between the parliament and the people.”
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir said that she was still displeased with the presidential veto, and added that the initial results were a “disappointment.” Minister of Finance Steingrímur J. Sigfússon took a pragmatic approach to the results, saying that now it was a matter of going with “plan B”. “We respect the results of this election, working from there and protecting our interests,” he said. “It isn’t complicated.”
Here are the initial counts on the Icesave referendum, as reported by state broadcasting service RÚV. These figures will be updated as more ballots are counted:
ALL DISTRICTS (35708 votes counted so far)
YES: 43.2%
NO: 56.8%
REYKJAVÍK NORTH
YES: 48.7%
NO: 51.3%
REYKJAVÍK SOUTH (The only district with a majority Yes vote)
YES: 53.9%
NO: 46.1%
SOUTHWEST
Total votes: 8150
YES (3004) 42.2%
NO (4650) 57.8%
NORTHWEST
Total votes: 2000
YES (696) 34.8%
NO (1304) 65.2%
NORTHEAST
Total votes: 3000
YES (1201) 40.5%
NO (1761) 59.5%
SOUTH
Total votes: 5318
YES (1501) 28.5%
NO (3760) 71.5%
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