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2011 Tijdschrift voor Constitutioneel Recht 342 (2011)
A Review of the Icelandic Constitution - Popular Sovereignty or Political Confusion

handle is hein.journals/tvcrl2011 and id is 342 raw text is: BIJ DE BUREN A Review of the IceLandic Constitution - popular sovereignty or political confusion A. TH. ARNASON* * Dr. Aglst Th6r Arnason is pro- gram director of the Faculty of Law at the University of Akureyri and a former member of the Constitutional Committee 16th June 2010 - 6th April 2011. i http://www.forsaetisraduneyti. is/frettir/nr/38o2. When the Financial Crisis of 2008 hit Iceland, the consequence of which was a major bank failure and near meltdown of the country's financial system, politicians were felt to be slow in their response and unsure of what their immediate action should be. Following a few months of near total chaos and disorder, the coalition government of the Liberal Conservative Party (Sjdlfstxdisflokkurinn) and the Social Democratic Alliance (Samftlkingin) fell apart midterm, though still holding on to a great majority of seats in Parliament (Althing), the government crushed under popular pressure and street protests which, at least on the tv- screen, looked like near-revolt of the Icelandic people. A new minority go- vernment then came to power on i February 2009, formed by a coalition of the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Party (Vinstri-Gren, VG), with the necessary aid of the Progressive Party (Frams6knarflokkurinn), which promised to back it up with its neutral support. The Prime Minister of the new government was J6hanna Sigurdard6ttir, a member of the Icelandic Parliament since 1978, for the last ten years as a member of and representative for the young Social Democratic Alliance, founded in 2000. J6hanna Sigurdard6ttir stayed in power after the gene- ral elections of April 2009 heading the first left winged majority govern- ment in Iceland formed in coalition with the Left-Green Party. As MP, Sigurdard6ttir had for many years fought for a total review of the constitution by means of a constitutional assembly. On the home page of the prime ministers office it says that in coherence with its 10 days plan the government of Iceland has agreed to table a draft bill to establish a constitutional assembly. According to those information (30.06.2009) this was a response to requests for a review of the constitution which Althing (the parliament), in its role as the constitutional lawmaker, had not managed to get through 'despite of a declared will of political parties in the past decades'., In November 2009, Sigurdard6ttir tabled a bill in 342 JULI 2011 TvCR

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