At Austurvöllur, Icelanders Once More Protest Their Government

A group describing itself as “concerned citizens” will engage in peaceful protest outside of parliament today at five PM. Gaining steam on Facebook over the past few days, the event was reportedly initially inspired by a status-rant from singer-songwriter Svavar Knútur about the current government’s favouritism for the rich and powerful,

Svavar describes the groups manifesto thusly:

We are protesting the arrogance, condescension and unprofessional behaviour of our current government. We are protesting the erosion of our common values and the foundations that we have built our society on. We are protesting the hollowing out of the public education system and our healthcare system. We are protesting the government constantly improving the lot of the richest portion of Icelanders at the cost of the poorest.

We are protesting Demagoguery and Distrust, the leaking of personal information about private individuals, sometimes fictional, from the ministry of the interior to the press. We are protesting the increasing armaments of the police.

We want Iceland back!

Return the guns and return common decency to the government.

Stop fucking with our fundamental ideals.

We are pissed off and we are many.

Some 6,500 people have announced on Facebook that they will attend the protest. Expect further updates on this story. In the meanwhile, to follow the course of events, you may stream video from Austurvöllur right here.