All indications seem to be that the bill outlining the terms by which the Icelandic government pays back former Icesave depositors will be passed into law on Wednesday.
The bill has just left the Finance Committee, the majority of whom have advised parliament to sign it into law. Before entering the Finance Committee this previous time, support was 32 to 29 in favor of it going back to committee – two members of parliament were absent. Leftist-Green MPs Ögmundur Jónasson and Lilja Mósesdóttir voted against it, and could do so again. A third Leftist-Green MP, Ásmundur Einar Daðason, told reporters that he has doubts about voting for the bill in this third and final debate, and has still not said which way his vote will go.
However, MP Þráinn Bertelsson – previously with the Civic Movement but now no longer affiliated with any party – voted in favor, and told reporters that he will do so again. As the ruling coalition only holds 34 of a possible 63 seats, if Jónasson and Mósesdóttir again vote against the Icesave bill – and if Daðason does indeed vote against it as well – the ruling coalition will need Bertelsson’s vote in order to pass the bill.
Speaking to Vísir, Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir said she hopes the government has the necessary votes to pass the bill into law, adding that it would be a “major blow” for the ruling coalition if it did not.