New numbers are in how Icelanders feel about the president’s veto, and a possible referendum on the Icesave law.
According to a poll conducted by Gallup, 51% of Icelanders polled said they were against president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson’s decision to veto the recently passed Icesave law, while 41% supported it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, far more voters of opposition parties support the president’s decision than voters of the ruling parties. While 16.5% of combined Social Democrat and Leftist-Green voters supported the veto, and 64.5% of those voting for opposition parties – the conservative Independence Party, the center-right Progressives and the activist Civic Movement – support the veto as well.
At the same time, about 67% of Icelanders polled believe the government should withdraw the current Icesave law and submit a new one rather than hold a referendum. Gallup director of research Guðbjörg Andrea Jónsdóttir told Vísir that this is an indication that a referendum is not the main issue for Icelanders; a new deal is.
The international media has been reporting, erroneously, that the veto means that Iceland will not pay, or that a national referendum would revolve around whether or not Iceland will pay on the Icesave debt. In actuality, a referendum would revolve around whether to accept or reject the current law.