I have a bad feeling about the Congress on Constitutional Reform, scheduled for the autumn.
It could turn out to be an outstanding achievement, on par with the Special Report.
Or it could turn out the way things did in the aftermath of the report’s publication. It could wither and die in the hands of Althingi. Remember how the report implied that there were people of high positions who should be made responsible, as their actions and inactions had contributed to the economic collapse? David Oddson, Geir Haarde, Bjorgvin G. Sigurdsson and more. As soon as Althingi had to act, it did not and exonerated these individuals.
Icelanders have difficulties grasping democracy. Does anyone remember how the world was supposed to turn to our side with the national referendum on IceSave? After all the hullabaloo it turned out to be the most useless national referendum ever held.
And currently Icelandic voters are extremely susceptible to demagoguery and all sorts of snake oil.
Who is going to be trusted for the necessary task of reforming our constitution? The Special Committee was chastised and made suspicious by the right wing while it was doing its job. The left wing cooked up all sorts of conspiracy theories when it delayed its publication date twice. Both sides are going to dry their darnedest to get people favourable to themselves elected. And the interests of the parties do not align with democracy, but control in the form of an undemocratic voting system and a control over the branches. My guess is that there is going to be plenty of people running for all the wrong reasons.
Trust is so low at the moment in Iceland that a few news items in the last couple of days have sprouted several conspiracy theories. A fire in the money pit concert hall being constructed downtown gave rise to claims of insurance fraud on behalf of the contractor. People are seeing ghosts everywhere, and it would seem like only madmen should be inclined to step in front of the firing squad at the moment?
Personally I would be more in favour of an appointed committee of academics and foreign specialists instead of a popular vote deciding how the constitution is supposed to be reformed. The voters of Iceland have repeatedly shown that they are generally uninformed and do not have their own best interests in mind.
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Michael Schulz
1 year ago
I fully subscribe to this piece of writing. Am especially concerned with regards to the last para. Of course academia and “Koryphäen” from abroad should play a leading role.
Cheers,
Michael