Parliament passed a bill into law last Friday on the officials rules for a national referendum to be held.
The law, approved with 49 out of 63 votes, will lay the legal groundwork for a national referendum to vote on whether or not the public wishes to approve the Icesave law which parliament passed, and the president subsequently vetoed.
Current opinion polls show that 67% of Icelanders favor parliament withdrawing the current Icesave deal and re-negotiating a new one, as opposed to holding a referendum. Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir has said she could consider this idea, as have members of the opposition.
The referendum is tentatively scheduled to take place on 6 March. For those living outside of Iceland, voting will begin on 25 January. It is estimated that it will cost 200 million ISK to execute, the end result of which will be, in all likelihood, re-negotiations.