Public trust in the parliament has never measured lower than it does now, according to a new poll conducted by Market and Media Research.
The first figure of surprise is the number of people who responded: 99.6% of those who were contacted for the poll responded, as opposed to the normal 60-70% range.
Those polled were asked for their levels of trust towards a variety of institutions, among them parliament. Of those who responded, only 10.9% said they trusted parliament, while 73.5% distrust it.
The most trusted institutions in Icelandic society are the police (80.9%), the University of Iceland (67.7%), and the government broadcasting services (52.1%). The least trusted institutions – falling just below parliament, actually – are the IMF (6.8%), the financial supervisory apparatus (6.0%) and the banking system (3.1%).
In related news, a similar poll conducted by Gallup showed similar results with regards to parliament.
In the Gallup poll, about 80% said they did not trust parliament, with 31% saying they didn’t trust it at all, while 9% they did.
Public perception that the government is not doing enough to relieve household debt has led to a number of protests in particular, and a drop in public approval overall.