Iceland has seen its first test of public opinion during its first full parliamentary session following the Christmas break, a session that the people wanted to see some action on the financial situation.
Anger rose, people gathered when the parliament published its agenda for the day, and the financial situation was nowhere to be seen.
Here’s the agenda the Alþingi was scheduled to discuss today inside the building while the riot was going on:
- Payments to organ-donors
- Should wines and beer be sold in grocery stores?
- Repayments of oil-and kilometertaxes for professional drivers
- Iceland’s opposition to rocket defences in Eastern Europe
- Smoking-areas in restaurants.
- Priority lanes in the traffic
- gender-equality on boards of financial institutions.
Report earlier last night as Parliament finished:
group of people are still gathered. It actually seems as the group is
growing larger fast but a few hundred persons are now in the area. The
police special forces are on the site and they have used pepper spray
and bats to scatter the crowd. Windows have been broken in the main
hall of the house of the Parliament.
The police was moving people that were arrested at the house of the
parliament today with four cars from the basement of the parliament.
The people tried to stop the cars by all means and the special forces
used pepper spray and the bats to get the crowd away.
The people at the house of the parliament were still hitting the
drums and pots and everything else possible and has been sounding since
around 1pm today. People are throwing eggs, dairy products, flour and
various others items at the police and the house of the parliament.
Then this report came in:
Now at 9.40pm are people still streaming in and the numbers increase
and the reporter is estimating that close to three thousand persons are
there. The fire is still burning vigorously outside the connected
building of the house of the parliament which was made earlier tonight,
and people have been gathering materials to burn at a nearby
construction site.
Ignoring the People
“It is the wish of the people that we get the word out when the
parliament was back in session, and we did so. These are the loud
demands that have been at Austurvollur for the last weeks. And I do not
know what will happen,” says Hordur Torfason, spokesman of the
organization Voices of the people (Raddir fólksins), when asked about
the protest today and if they will continue tomorrow.
Hordur says that these protests are not organized. “No one is controlling this,” he said in a conversation with mbl.
“The people were waiting for this day,” he also said.
According to the information from the prime ministry will Geir H. Haarde not comment about the protests to the media.
People are tired of being polite.
Hordur says that the purpose of the protests are to have the affect
on the government. “People are fed up of being polite and hold speeches
[..] If the government keep this up then everything will go crazy. It
is very simple. The protests are increasing all over the country,” says
Hordur and adds that people are very angry and it does not work out
that the government is calling the protesters plebs.
The protests are a natural reaction to the silence that has been taking place and is taking place.
When asked if he´s worried about violence will be increasing he says: “We have already warned the ministers about this.”
“It is the government that is creating this situation,” says Hordur.
You can read reports direct from Iceland in English by using the following links.
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