Iceland's Revolution Is a Stunning Example of How Little Media Tells Us about the Rest of the World.
Iceland’s Amazing Peaceful Revolution – Still Not in the News
Iceland’s peaceful revolution is a stunning example of how little our media tells us about the rest of the world.
The following summation has been posted by countless people on Facebook; I’ve reposted it in its entirety:
ICELAND (GP) – No news from Iceland? Why? Last we heard, people were rising up and overthrowing the bankers. Then, no news on the television or newspapers for two years. What happened? Why won’t the papers and TV tell us how the bankers successfully crushed or minimized another rebellion? Because… THEY DIDN’T! This time, the people won.
The people of Iceland have overwhelmingly risen up and forced their government puppets of the banks to resign. Primary banks have been nationalized. The debt scam imposed by Great Britain and Holland money printers was declared null and void. A public assembly has been created to rewrite Iceland’s constitution.
The best part is, all of this happened without violence or bloodshed. A whole country’s revolution succeeded against powers that created the current global crisis without a shot being fired. A very good reason exists for the apparent failure of television and newspapers to provide any publicity on this unprecedented event: what would happen if the rest of the EU and the United States took this as an example?
The following is a summary of the facts:
2008 – The main bank of Iceland is nationalized.
The Krona, the currency of Iceland devaluates and the stock market halts. The country is in bankruptcy
2008 – Citizens rise up at Parliament and succeed in forcing the resignation of both the prime minister and the effective government. New elections are held.
Yet, the country remains in a bad economic situation. A Parliament act is passed to pay back 3,500 million Euros to Great Britain and Holland by the people of Iceland monthly during the next 15 years, with 5.5% interest.
2010 – The people of Iceland again take to the streets to demand a referendum. In January of 2010, the President of Iceland denies approval, instead announcing a popular vote on the matter by the people.
In March, a referendum and denial of payment is approved by popular vote of 93%. Meanwhile, government officials initiate an investigation to bring to justice those responsible for the crisis. Many high level executives and bankers are arrested. Interpol dictates an order to force all implicated parties to leave Iceland.
An assembly is elected to write a new constitution (based on the Denmark’s) to avoid entrapments of debt based currency foreign loans. 25 citizens are chosen — with no political affiliation — out of the 522 candidates. The only qualifications for candidacy are adulthood and the support of 30 people. The constitutional assembly started in February of 2011. It continues to present ‘carta magna’ from recommendations provided by various assemblies throughout the country. Ultimately, it must be approved by both the current Parliament and the one created through the next legislative election.
In summary of the Icelandic revolution, we saw:
-resignation of the entire corrupt government of the country
-nationalization of the bank
-referendum enabling the people to determine their own economic system
-incarceration of responsible parties, and
-a rewriting of the Iceland Constitution by its people
This is significant stuff.
Have we been informed about this through the main stream media?
Has any political program on radio or TV commented on this?
http://crazyemailsandbackstories.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/icelands-amazing-peaceful-revolution-still-not-in-the-news-backstory/
Icelandic Anger Brings Debt Forgiveness in Best Recovery Story
By Omar R. Valdimarsson - Feb 20, 2012 12:01
Icelanders who pelted parliament with rocks in 2009 demanding their leaders and bankers answer for the country’s economic and financial collapse are reaping the benefits of their anger.
Since the end of 2008, the island’s banks have forgiven loans equivalent to 13 percent of gross domestic product, easing the debt burdens of more than a quarter of the population, according to a report published this month by the Icelandic Financial Services Association.
Enlarge imageA cyclist passes an Icelandic national flag hanging in a popular shopping street in Reykjavik, Iceland. Photographer: Paul Taggart/Bloomberg“You could safely say that Iceland holds the world record in household debt relief,” said Lars Christensen, chief emerging markets economist at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen. “Iceland followed the textbook example of what is required in a crisis. Any economist would agree with that.”
The island’s steps to resurrect itself since 2008, when its banks defaulted on $85 billion, are proving effective. Iceland’s economy will this year outgrow the euro area and the developed world on average, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates. It costs about the same to insure against an Icelandic default as it does to guard against a credit event in Belgium. Most polls now show Icelanders don’t want to join the European Union, where the debt crisis is in its third year.
The island’s households were helped by an agreement between the government and the banks, which are still partly controlled by the state, to forgive debt exceeding 110 percent of home values. On top of that, a Supreme Court ruling in June 2010 found loans indexed to foreign currencies were illegal, meaning households no longer need to cover krona losses.
Crisis Lessons
“The lesson to be learned from Iceland’s crisis is that if other countries think it’s necessary to write down debts, they should look at how successful the 110 percent agreement was here,” said Thorolfur Matthiasson, an economics professor at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, in an interview. “It’s the broadest agreement that’s been undertaken.”
Without the relief, homeowners would have buckled under the weight of their loans after the ratio of debt to incomes surged to 240 percent in 2008, Matthiasson said.
Iceland’s $13 billion economy, which shrank 6.7 percent in 2009, grew 2.9 percent last year and will expand 2.4 percent this year and next, the Paris-based OECD estimates. The euro area will grow 0.2 percent this year and the OECD area will expand 1.6 percent, according to November estimates.
Housing, measured as a subcomponent in the consumer price index, is now only about 3 percent below values in September 2008, just before the collapse. Fitch Ratings last week raised Iceland to investment grade, with a stable outlook, and said the island’s “unorthodox crisis policy response has succeeded.”
People Vs Markets
Iceland’s approach to dealing with the meltdown has put the needs of its population ahead of the markets at every turn.
Once it became clear back in October 2008 that the island’s banks were beyond saving, the government stepped in, ring-fenced the domestic accounts, and left international creditors in the lurch. The central bank imposed capital controls to halt the ensuing sell-off of the krona and new state-controlled banks were created from the remnants of the lenders that failed.
Activists say the banks should go even further in their debt relief. Andrea J. Olafsdottir, chairman of the Icelandic Homes Coalition, said she doubts the numbers provided by the banks are reliable.
“There are indications that some of the financial institutions in question haven’t lost a penny with the measures that they’ve undertaken,” she said.
Fresh Demands
According to Kristjan Kristjansson, a spokesman for Landsbankinn hf, the amount written off by the banks is probably larger than the 196.4 billion kronur ($1.6 billion) that the Financial Services Association estimates, since that figure only includes debt relief required by the courts or the government.
“There are still a lot of people facing difficulties; at the same time there are a lot of people doing fine,” Kristjansson said. “It’s nearly impossible to say when enough is enough; alongside every measure that is taken, there are fresh demands for further action.”
As a precursor to the global Occupy Wall Street movement and austerity protests acrossEurope, Icelanders took to the streets after the economic collapse in 2008. Protests escalated in early 2009, forcing police to use teargas to disperse crowds throwing rocks at parliament and the offices of then Prime Minister Geir Haarde. Parliament is still deciding whether to press ahead with an indictment that was brought against him in September 2009 for his role in the crisis.
A new coalition, led by Social Democrat Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, was voted into office in early 2009. The authorities are now investigating most of the main protagonists of the banking meltdown.
Legal Aftermath
Iceland’s special prosecutor has said it may indict as many as 90 people, while more than 200, including the former chief executives at the three biggest banks, face criminal charges.
Larus Welding, the former CEO of Glitnir Bank hf, once Iceland’s second biggest, was indicted in December for granting illegal loans and is now waiting to stand trial. The former CEO of Landsbanki Islands hf, Sigurjon Arnason, has endured stints of solitary confinement as his criminal investigation continues.
That compares with the U.S., where no top bank executives have faced criminal prosecution for their roles in the subprime mortgage meltdown. The Securities and Exchange Commission said last year it had sanctioned 39 senior officers for conduct related to the housing market meltdown.
The U.S. subprime crisis sent home prices plunging 33 percent from a 2006 peak. While households there don’t face the same degree of debt relief as that pushed through in Iceland, President Barack Obama this month proposed plans to expand loan modifications, including some principal reductions.
According to Christensen at Danske Bank, “the bottom line is that if households are insolvent, then the banks just have to go along with it, regardless of the interests of the banks.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-20/icelandic-anger-brings-record-debt-relief-in-best-crisis-recovery-story.html
The Silent Revolution: Icelandic Anger, Debt Forgiveness and Activist Triumph
25th May 2012
By Madison Ruppert
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World
The situation in Iceland is something those of us outside of the volcanic island nation hear about far too little, and when one examines the story of how Iceland triumphed over massive debts, it makes a lot of sense why this is the case.
Earlier this year, the Icelandic Financial Services Association published a report showing that since the end of 2008, Icelandic banks have forgiven the equivalent of 13 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in loans.
This has directly lifted the crushing burden of debt form the shoulders of over one quarter of the Icelandic population, something which many people around the world – but especially in the United States, Greece, Spain, Italy and other nations struggling with massive debts – would likely appreciate greatly.
In 2008, Icelandic banks defaulted on a whopping $85 billion in loans, yet the nation has taken steps to recover and they are already proving to be effective.
“You could safely say that Iceland holds the world record in household debt relief,” Lars Christensen, the chief emerging markets economist at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen, explained.
“Iceland followed the textbook example of what is required in a crisis. Any economist would agree with that,” he added.
Then why wouldn’t other nations follow a similar model instead of pouring even more money into the black hole of debt, hoping that it will somehow fix itself?
That is a question which cannot be answered with any degree of certainty, but Iceland has proven that endless bailouts are not the only way we can turn countries around from the brink of collapse.
The Icelandic economy will outgrow the eurozone in 2012 and is set to outgrow the entire developed world on average, according to estimates from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
This growth is reflected in the fact that many polls are showing that the people of Iceland have no interest in joining the European Union, which continues to be wracked by a debt crisis the likes of which have never been seen.
The solution Iceland implemented involved an agreement between the banks and the government, which entailed forgiving debt exceeding 110 percent of home values.
This is commonly known as “under water” mortgages (or more technically “negative equity”), which have become far too common place, especially in the United States.
Indeed, a CNBC article from November of last year stated that one out of two U.S. mortgages is effectively underwater.
In addition to the debt forgiveness, the Icelandic Supreme Court ruled in June 2010 that loans indexed to foreign currencies were legal, which means that Icelandic households were no longer expected to cover krona (the Swedish currency) losses.
The most important factor of their approach, however, is that every step of the way they have put their own people before the markets. This is essentially the polar opposite of what we have seen so many other nations do in response to debt crises.
The Icelandic government basically left international creditors to deal with their failed loans on their own, removing all responsibility from their own people.
Now Iceland is proceeding to actually prosecute some of their formerly most powerful bankers and the Icelandic special prosecutor has stated that it very well may indict some 90 people.
Meanwhile, over 200 people, including the former chief executives of Iceland’s three biggest banks, face criminal charges for their activities.
Maybe some other nations should take a page out of Iceland’s book and think about their people before the banks that caused the crisis in the first place.
ome articles about Iceland's "Kitchenware revolution" - refusal to bow to EU's orders of bailing out private banks at the costs of the people
http://wakeup-world.com/2012/05/25/the-silent-revolution-icelandic-anger-debt-forgiveness-and-activist-triumph/
The Kitchenware Revolution
The true story of how Iceland beat the Credit Crunch
Iceland is a funny old country. A place mainly famous for its hot springs, icy landscapes and lack of population. However, this all changed with the first gentle wave of the global economic downturn. Resolutely stiff upper-lipped as always, the Brits initially christened the financial troubles as a mere ‘Credit Crunch’, the Americans avoided the dirty D word so popular in the early part of the 20th century and talked about a ‘recession’, while France and Southern Europe resigned themselves to the true nature of things and described the crisis as, well, ‘la crisis’. Iceland’s reaction, on the other hand, was basically to turf out the bankers, the government in power and just started over. Pretty cool, eh?
Unfortunately, as this story was completely at odds with the rest of the Western World and it only directly affected Iceland’s 350,000 inhabitants, it didn’t make it into many British papers or garner too much UK television coverage. Yet now, three years and counting since the start of the economic meltdown, Iceland is ranked fourth most productive country in the world per capita by the UN, and 17th most developed country in the world by the Human Development Index. So what happened?
In 2008, Iceland was in turmoil. There was a systematic failure of its three main commercial banks. The Economist called the collapse the largest suffered by any country in history, relative to Iceland’s population size. In response to what was seen as government inertia, protests began to take place from around October of that year. However, the real fun began in January 2009. As one Icelandic blogger wrote, ‘On January 20th [2008], the Icelandic coalition government of the Independence Party and the Social Democratic Alliance reconvened in parliament after their three-week Christmas break. The agenda for their first day back included issues that obviously are crucial when you’ve got a collapsed economy on your hands: discussing smoking areas in restaurants and whether or not to sell alcohol in shops.’
Alda Sigmundsdóttir, writer of the Iceland Weather Report blog, goes on to explain ‘It was the final straw and showed more clearly than anything else the immense gulf that was between the politicians and the people of [Iceland]. The anger had been seething among ordinary citizens for weeks. By and large we had been extremely well-behaved. We got together at our appointed times on Saturday afternoons to listen to rousing speeches and shout a few slogans; some threw eggs and toilet paper at the parliament building. And nothing changed. The government operated behind closed doors and, when confronted, exhibited outrageous arrogance towards the people of [Iceland]. But mostly they made sure they weren’t in a position to be confronted.’
Protestors banging pots and pans outside a government building in Reykjavík. Picture © Páll Hilmarsson
So on the 20th January demonstrators decided to meet on the day of the government meeting with ‘anything they could bang together that would make a noise’. What had started out as tens of people quickly turned to hundreds, then thousands, all clanging saucepans and pots together every day to distract the politicians that had let them down until eventually the ruling right-wing coalition resigned. This became known in Iceland as the Kitchenware Revolution.
The new left-wing government quickly passed a string of emergency measures to prevent Iceland itself becoming bankrupt. The domestic arms of Iceland’s major banks were nationalised, while the private international operations were left to run themselves into ruin. A series of austerity measures were put in place and unemployment, after initially rising dramatically, has now stabilised and even began falling midway through this year. A criminal investigation, likely to take two to three years, was instigated in April 2009 and is concerned with bringing corrupt politicians and bankers to justice. A number of questionable business practices have emerged that may cause the perpetrators to answer to the law. Almost half of all loans made by Icelandic banks before the crash were given to holding companies that were effectively subsidiaries of the banks themselves. On 9th March of this year two arrests were made by the UK Serious Fraud Office in conjunction with Iceland’s state prosecutor.
Former Icelandic Minister for Justic, Bjorn Bjarnson, spoke out in the Telegraph in April 2009; “I have written a lot about problems in the business sector over the last 14 years, and I can only compare some parts of it to Enron…Here companies have been playing a game, using the media and publishing to make themselves look good. We only hope that the foreign media will soon begin to understand what has been going on.”
http://qmunicate.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/the-kitchenware-revolution/
Icelanders overthrow top power holders responsible for economic crisis (Kitchenware Revolution), 2008-9
Time Period:
October
2008
to
February
2009
Country:
Iceland
Location City/State/Province:
Reykjavik
Goals:
1) Resignation of the prime minister and cabinet, 2) Resignation of the board of the Central Bank, 3) Resignation of the board of the Financial Security Authority, and 4) New elections as soon as possible
At the dawn of the financial crisis, Iceland was controlled by the Independent Party, a right-wing party with decidedly neo-liberal economic policies. Over the past 19 years, banks had been privatized, regulations cut, and the corporate tax rate lowered to 18%. Personal income tax, on the other hand, was held at 36%, regardless of income. As global concern over bank failures grew, the Icelandic government continued to assure citizens that all was well. However, in September 2008, the Icelandic bank Glitner failed, followed closely by the remaining Icelandic banks, Landsbanki and Kaupthing. In October, there was growing discontent in Iceland as the financial crisis plunged a nation with historically negligible unemployment rates into 18% unemployment.
The first protest of the government's handling of this crisis came in mid-October, when a locally well-known singer and song-writer, Hordur Torfason, stood out in a public square in Reykjavik with an open microphone, inviting passersby to speak. The following Saturday was the first organized protest. This protest was better attended, but the event was dominated by one speaker and one view on the financial crisis, and Torfason saw a need to incorporate all voices. On the third Saturday, the campaign took more definite shape, as the organization Raddir Folksins (Voices of the People) was formally established. This demonstration led to the creation of four key demands that defined the campaign: 1) Resignation of the government (the prime minister and cabinet), 2) Resignation of the Central Bank's board, 3) Resignation of the Financial Security Authority's board, and 4) New elections as soon as possible.
The protests continued every Saturday throughout November and December, gaining support. The next development happened on the last day of December, when a group of protesters gathered outside a hotel where a TV special was being broadcast. Political party leaders were being filmed discussing the year's accomplishments. Protesters initially tried to disrupt the broadcast with noise from pots and light from torches, but after this failed, they climbed the fence into the hotel to pull apart and burn the TV cables. This successfully disrupted the broadcast.
The campaign suddenly escalated on January 20, 2009, when around 2,000 people gathered outside the Althingi House (Parliament Building). The protesters banged pots and pans in order to disrupt the meeting of Parliament, which is why the campaign gained the name "The Kitchenware Revolution." Protesters also threw eggs, skyr (a type of Icelandic yogurt), and rocks, breaking several windows. The police used pepper spray to suppress crowds and made over 30 arrests. However, the protesters stayed by the Parliament building into the night, using nearby wood and even a large display Christmas tree to build bonfires.
The following day, on January 21, a crowd surrounded Prime Minister Geir Haarde's official car, throwing eggs and snowballs. That same day, one group threw red paint on a government building. On the night of January 22, tensions came to a head when protesters threw rocks into the Parliament building and injured several policemen. In response, the Icelandic police used tear gas for the first time in 60 years. Throughout the week, protesters maintained noise demonstrations and bonfires in the streets. At the height of the protests, around 10,000 Icelandic citizens were involved, an impressive number considering Iceland's total population of 320,000.
On January 23, Prime Minister Haarde announced that new elections would be held in May and that he would not be running, resigning himself and his entire cabinet. The next day, the Minister of Commerce Bjorn Sigurdsson resigned, as did the Director and board of the Financial Supervisory Board. Participants in the campaign rejoiced, as three of the four demands had been met. However, leaders of the campaign acknowledged that greater reforms of the Icelandic government were necessary. The board and director of the Central Bank remained untouched. With an interim government in place and elections scheduled for May, Raddir Folksins temporarily ceased its Saturday demonstrations.
However, the protesters only skipped one Saturday protest. The following Saturday, February 8, saw protesters gathered in front of Parliament once more, calling for the resignation or firing of the three Governors of the Central Bank's Board. Hordur Torfason urged protesters to meet the next day at the Central Bank Building. That night, the acting Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir also expressed disappointment that the Governors had refused to step down. On February 9, a crowd of activists blocked the entrance to the Bank building, preventing bank chiefs from getting in. One chairman, Ingimundur Fridriksson, agreed to resign. However, the remaining two chairmen, David Oddsson and Eirikur Gudnason, still refused to yield to protesters' demands.
During the continuing protests in February, the Icelandic Parliament was crafting a law to reform the Central Bank. The amendments to the Central Bank Act would abolish the current Board of Governors of the Central Bank and replace these positions with one Governor and one Deputy Governor. As the passage of this new law became politically inevitable, Oddsson and Gudnason realized they would soon be forced to resign. Instead, both Governors chose to step down on February 26, 2009. On February 27, the amendments to the Central Bank Act passed, and a new Governor and Deputy Governor were chosen. At last, all four of the Icelandic protesters' demands were met.
Research Notes
Influences:
This campaign is thought to be the first protest of a government's handling of the financial crisis, possibly influencing later similar protests in Europe. (2)
Sources:
"A Statement from the Icelandic Anarchist Collective Aftaka on the Recent Collapse of the Icelandic Government." Anarchy Library 31 Jan. 2009. Web. <http://anarchyfiles.wordpress.com/tag/iceland-protests >.
“Central Bank Bill Becomes Law.” IceNews 27 Feb. 2009: n. page. Web.
“David Oddsson Just Will Not Quit.” IceNews 9 Feb. 2009: n. page. Web.
Dobson, Tim. "Iceland: Protests Bring Down Government." Green Left 30 Jan. 2009 : n. pag. Web.
Erlingsdottir, Iris. "Iceland is Burning." Huffington Post World 20 Jan. 2009 : n. pag. Web.
“Heads of Iceland Central Bank say Goodbye.” IceNews 26 Feb. 2009: n. page. Web.
Henley, Jon. "Iceland Has an Unlikely New Hero." The Guardian 30 Nov. 2008 : n. pag. Web.
"Iceland: A Nation in Revolt." Frontline Vol. 2 Issue 9 March 2009 : n. pag. Web.
"Iceland's Minister of Commerce and board and director of FSA resign." IceNews 25 Jan. 2009 : n. pag. Web.
“Iceland's Oddsson out, Norwegian consultant in.” CentralBanking.com 27 Feb. 2009: n. page. Web.
Moody, Jonas. "Global Financial Crisis Claims Iceland." Time World 26 Jan. 2009 : n. pag. Web.
Sigmundsdottir, Alda. "We Need Far More Radical Changes." The Iceland Weather Report 4 Feb. 2009 : n pag. Web.
http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/icelanders-overthrow-top-power-holders-responsible-economic-crisis-kitchenware-revolution-20
Iceland: Government of the people, by the people, for the people?
Iceland suffered more than any other country in the financial crisis of 2008. Their banking collapse was the largest ever suffered by any country in economic history. Iceland was on the verge of bankruptcy; its external debt rose to over 600% of GDP; the market captalisation of its stock exchange dropped by more than 90%; unemployment went up threefold; inflation hit 20% and its currency was heavily devalued. Essentially, Iceland was in a complete and utter mess. Since the collapse, the winds of change have begun to blow through Iceland. After the crash a third of Iceland's regulators went to work for the banks they were supposed to be regulating. This reflected the endemic cosiness between Iceland's banks and their supposed governors. The people of Iceland decided they had had enough, and so began the 'Kitchenware Revolution'.
Protests began in Iceland in October 2008, they took place once a week on a Saturday afternoon outside the parliament building but there was a very regimented and official feel to these protests. Hörður Torfason, a famous singer-songwriter, decided to change all of that. Torfason suggested that people should show up on Tuesday 20th January 2009 and bring with them something to bang on too make as much noise as possible. People turned up with pots, pans and empty biscuit tins (hence the 'Kitchenware Revolution'). Throughout the day the crowds got bigger and bigger, by 10pm there were around 5,000 people there(nearly 2% of Iceland's population) burning fires and setting off flares - they stayed through the night. The protests continued for days - despite the offer of early elections in April - with the Prime Minister's car being pelted with eggs and low level rioting. On January 26th Geir Haarde announced that the coalition government would break-up and the cabinet would stay in place until a new government could be formed. Haarde stepped down from his position as Prime Minister and the Social Democratic Alliance formed a minority government with the Left-Green Movement until elections could be contested in April. The big winners in the election were the Left-Green Movement who took 10% of the vote from the Independence Party - Haarde's party.
Iceland's population decided that it had had enough of being subservient to their rulers. Geir Haarde was charged with alleged incompetence up to and during the financial crisis - he awaits trial. The Icelandic people voted no in two referendums on whether they should pay back the money, UK and Dutch account holders had in savings accounts in Icesave, a bank that collapsed in 2008.
In the aftermath of the uprising Iceland decided make its political system more open and accountable. They started by launching the National Assembly of Iceland, a form of participatory democracy organised by a group of grassroots movements. In 2009, 1,500 people, 1,200 of whom were selected at random, were invited to discuss issues such as the nations values and future following the banking collapse. In 2010, 1,000 people all selected at random, met to discuss the Icelandic Constitution and what they thought should be part of it. The meeting was considered to be a success, with the participants discussing which values they wanted the Constitution to be built on and voted on them, each discussion table summarised their ideas in one paragraph. Each table's summary was the collated to see what the overriding issues were deemed to be.
Following on from this Iceland held Constitutional Assembly Elections late last year, they had to elect a 25 member panel who would be tasked with looking at:
-The foundations of the Icelandic constitution and its fundamental concepts;
-The organisation of the legislative and executive branches and the limits of their powers;
-The role and position of the President of the Republic;
-The independence of the judiciary and their supervision of other holders of governmental powers;
-Provisions on elections and electoral districts;
-Public participation in the democratic process, including the timing and organisation of a referendum, including a referendum on a legislative bill for a constitutional act;
-Transfer of sovereign powers to international organisations and the conduct of foreign affairs;
-Environmental matters, including the ownership and utilisation of natural resources.
The Constitutional Assembly is also empowered to address additional matters beyond “reviewing the Constitution of the Republic”.
Those elected were a smorgasbord of those that make up Icelandic society; farmers, trade-unionists, academics, pastors and a radio presenter. After they were elected they council went about trying to decide what should be in the Constitution, updating the draft once a week so the public know what developments are taking place. Since the Constitution has to be approved by a referendum they decided that the public should be involved throughout the process. They are doing so through crowdsourcing, using social media websites such as Facebook (a website two-thirds of Iceland's citizens are a member of), Twitter and YouTube to gather people's opinions. This process is still on-going.
Once again Iceland is at the forefront of political innovation, after being the first country in the world to have a parliament in the year 930. In Spain the protesters are trying to emulate the Icelandic model of protest, with one protester's banner stating "Iceland is my goal". It is easy to sneer at the ease at which Iceland has carried out this silent revolution, especially as it has the same population as Wigan. But, there are lessons for us all to learn from Iceland's methods. I'm sure Irish and Greek citizens wish they were in Iceland's position.
http://coalnotdole.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/iceland-government-of-people-by-people.html
A story missing from our media: Iceland's on-going revolution
by Deena Stryker
An Italian radio program's story about Iceland’s on-going revolution is a stunning example of how little our media tells us about the rest of the world. We may remember that at the start of the 2008 financial crisis, Iceland literally went bankrupt. The reasons were mentioned only in passing, and since then, this little-known member of the European Union fell back into oblivion.
As one European country after another fails or risks failing, imperiling the Euro, with repercussions for the entire world, the last thing the powers that be want is for Iceland to become an example. Here's why:
Five years of a pure neo-liberal regime had made Iceland, (population 320 thousand, no army), one of the richest countries in the world. In 2003 all the country’s banks were privatised, and in an effort to attract foreign investors, they offered on-line banking whose minimal costs allowed them to offer relatively high rates of return. The accounts, called IceSave, attracted many UK and Dutch small investors. But as investments grew, so did the banks’ foreign debt. In 2003 Iceland’s debt was equal to 200 times its GNP, but in 2007, it was 900 percent. The 2008 world financial crisis was the coup de grace. The three main Icelandic banks, Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, went belly up and were nationalised, while the Kroner lost 85% of its value with respect to the Euro. At the end of the year Iceland declared bankruptcy.
Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution. But only after much pain.
Geir Haarde, the Prime Minister of a Social Democratic coalition government, negotiated a two million one hundred thousand dollar loan, to which the Nordic countries added another two and a half million. But the foreign financial community pressured Iceland to impose drastic measures. The FMI and the European Union wanted to take over its debt, claiming this was the only way for the country to pay back Holland and Great Britain, who had promised to reimburse their citizens.
Protests and riots continued, eventually forcing the government to resign. Elections were brought forward to April 2009, resulting in a left-wing coalition which condemned the neoliberal economic system, but immediately gave in to its demands that Iceland pay off a total of three and a half million Euros. This required each Icelandic citizen to pay 100 Euros a month (or about $130) for fifteen years, at 5.5% interest, to pay off a debt incurred by private parties vis a vis other private parties. It was the straw that broke the reindeer’s back.
What happened next was extraordinary. The belief that citizens had to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly, that an entire nation must be taxed to pay off private debts was shattered, transforming the relationship between citizens and their political institutions and eventually driving Iceland’s leaders to the side of their constituents. The Head of State, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, refused to ratify the law that would have made Iceland’s citizens responsible for its bankers’ debts, and accepted calls for a referendum.
Of course the international community only increased the pressure on Iceland. Great Britain and Holland threatened dire reprisals that would isolate the country. As Icelanders went to vote, foreign bankers threatened to block any aid from the IMF. The British government threatened to freeze Icelander savings and checking accounts. As Grimsson said: “We were told that if we refused the international community’s conditions, we would become the Cuba of the North. But if we had accepted, we would have become the Haiti of the North.” (How many times have I written that when Cubans see the dire state of their neighbor, Haiti, they count themselves lucky.)
In the March 2010 referendum, 93% voted against repayment of the debt. The IMF immediately froze its loan. But the revolution (though not televised in the United States), would not be intimidated. With the support of a furious citizenry, the government launched civil and penal investigations into those responsible for the financial crisis. Interpol put out an international arrest warrant for the ex-president of Kaupthing, Sigurdur Einarsson, as the other bankers implicated in the crash fled the country.
But Icelanders didn't stop there: they decided to draft a new constitution that would free the country from the exaggerated power of international finance and virtual money. (The one in use had been written when Iceland gained its independence from Denmark, in 1918, the only difference with the Danish constitution being that the word ‘president’ replaced the word ‘king’.)
To write the new constitution, the people of Iceland elected twenty-five citizens from among 522 adults not belonging to any political party but recommended by at least thirty citizens. This document was not the work of a handful of politicians, but was written on the internet. The constituent’s meetings are streamed on-line, and citizens can send their comments and suggestions, witnessing the document as it takes shape. The constitution that eventually emerges from this participatory democratic process will be submitted to parliament for approval after the next elections.
Some readers will remember that Iceland’s ninth century agrarian collapse was featured in Jared Diamond’s book by the same name. Today, that country is recovering from its financial collapse in ways just the opposite of those generally considered unavoidable, as confirmed yesterday by the new head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde to Fareed Zakaria. The people of Greece have been told that the privatization of their public sector is the only solution. And those of Italy, Spain and Portugal are facing the same threat.
They should look to Iceland. Refusing to bow to foreign interests, that small country stated loud and clear that the people are sovereign.
That’s why it is not in the news anymore.
http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/3057-a-story-missing-from-our-media-icelands-on-going-revolution.html
Received from Irina Malenko
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