Iceland

Iceland

“…In 2010, government legislation on the Icesave affair was decisively rejected by the voters when the President refused to countersign the law -and it was thus put to a referendum according to the constitution (see Hardarson & Kristinsson 2010, 2011. New agreement with the British and the Dutch was reached, and in February new Icesave legislation was passed by an overwhelming majority in the Althingi; 44 MPs (73 per cent) said 'yes'; 16 MPs said 'no' (27 per cent), while three MPs abstained.…”

“…The economic crash in 2008 led to a sharp decline in the confidence of the public in major political institutions such as the government, parliament and central bank (Capacent Gallup 2011a). Even if the recovery, led by the Hardarson and Kristinsson (2010: 1010-10112011: 999). Approval ratings for the government had been 50-60 per cent in the first weeks after the 2009 election; they were down to 32 per cent in December 2011 (Capacent Gallup 2011b).…”

Iceland

“…With two referendums going against its Icesave strategy (i.e., seeking a negotiated solution with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands on the issue of banking guarantees; see Hardarson & Kristinsson 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, the credibility of the government was low.A ruling by the European Free Trade Area court at the end of January, which acquitted the Icelandic government of any claims made by the British and Dutch governments, may have destroyed any chance the two government parties might have had of turning the election in their favour. The intended facelift, however, was only partly successful as the government increasingly had the appearance of a spent force, with hardly any clear strategy before the election and weak control in parliament.…”

“…Although the government record in dealing with the crisis was favourably evaluated by both the International Monetary Fund and Icelandic voters (according to the Icelandic Election Study 2013), this proved insufficient to boost its electoral fortunes. With two referendums going against its Icesave strategy (i.e., seeking a negotiated solution with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands on the issue of banking guarantees; see Hardarson & Kristinsson 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, the credibility of the government was low.A ruling by the European Free Trade Area court at the end of January, which acquitted the Icelandic government of any claims made by the British and Dutch governments, may have destroyed any chance the two government parties might have had of turning the election in their favour. The Icesave ruling benefitted the Progressives -who had opposed all Icesave deals -and seemed to give more credibility to their bold election promises on reducing housing debts of families and abolishing inflation-indexing of loans.…”

Iceland

“…From the beginning of the monthly Gallup measurements in 1994, government support had only been below 40 per cent twice in 1994, once in 2004 and Table 1. Cabinet composition of Sigurdardóttir II For the composition of Sigurdardóttir II on 1 January 2012, see Hardarson and Kristinsson (2010: 1010-10112011: 999;2012: 138).…”