Iceland votes for more control of its resources

Residents of Iceland have voted for their constitution to be rewritten in the wake of the 2008 banking crisis, electing to take greater control of natural resources such as fish and geothermal energy.

The collapse of the island’s heavily indebted banks led to demands for change after accusations of cronyism between the political elite and business.

The referendum result announced yesterday is non-binding but backers of change hope that politicians will find it hard to ignore even though parliament is responsible for adopting a new constitution and the main opposition party has said it opposes proposed changes.

Saturday’s referendum asked voters six questions, including whether people wanted a new constitution which has been drawn up by a specially-appointed panel of 25 citizens to be the basis for a review of the basic law.

With two-thirds of votes counted yesterday, 66 per cent had answered “yes” to that question. Turnout was 49 per cent of the island’s more than 235,000 eligible voters, broadcaster RUV said.

“This is a very clear conclusion for parliament. The majority of voters want changes in all the topics asked about in the vote,” said Thorolfur Matthiasson, an economist at the University of Iceland.

He noted 80 per cent had voted to declare all non-privately owned natural resources as “national property”.

Fishing accounts for about 7 per cent of the economy with fishing rights currently farmed out under a system of quotas which critics say have benefited a select few. Backers of the system say it has led to sound management of fish stocks.

“There will be pressure to change the fishing quota system because people want a bigger share of income from fishing and other natural resources,” said Mr Matthiasson.