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grapevine

The majority of Icelanders would vote in favour of the Icesave agreement passed by parliament, if a national referendum on the matter were held today. At the same time, most Icelanders also said they supported the president’s decision to veto the law.
As reported, the Icesave agreement – passed by a wide margin in parliament last week – was vetoed by the president over the weekend, and will soon be put up for public referendum. According to a poll conducted by Market and Media Research, 60.7% said they supported the president’s decision to veto the measure. Curiously enough, though, 57.7% of those polled also said they would vote in favour of the Icesave law if the referendum were held today.
Only 39.3% said they did not support the president’s decision, and 42.3% said they would vote no on Icesave.
When the demographics are broken down along party lines, the distinctions become clearer. Support for the president’s decision were almost mirror opposites between those who support the government and those who do not – 74.3% of government supporters said they did not agree with the president’s veto, while 76.5% of those in the opposition said they did. Support for the veto was greatest among Progressives, at 77.7%, and lowest among Social Democrats, at 10.8%.
On Icesave itself, 87.9% of government supporters and 40.3% of opposition supporters said they would vote in favour of the agreement. Again, support was at polar opposites between Social Democrats and Progressives – almost all Social Dems, or 96.7%, said they would vote yes on Icesave, while 37.4% of Progressives said the same.
A tentative date for the national referendum has yet to be announced.
Related:
Reactions To Icesave Veto
President Vetoes Icesave 3 – Referendum Imminent