“Major constitutional crisis”

Opposition MPs have harshly criticised the Speaker of the House (Alþingi), Einar K. Guðfinnson, for rejecting calls for a parliamentary session on Friday on the subject of the Icelandic government’s decision to ask the European Union to remove Iceland from its list of candidate countries.

“An attack on Alþingi”

In today’s parliamentary session, Helgi Hjörvar, MP for the Social Democratic Alliance (‘Samfylkingin’), accused the government of staging an attack on Alþingi and deplored the Speaker’s decision not to convene MPs on Friday, as had been requested. Róbert Marshall, MP for the Bright Future party (‘Björt framtíð’), described the situation as a “major constitutional crisis”.

Further demonstrations

MPs did, however, express their appreciation at the Speaker’s decision to amend today’s parliamentary agenda to include discussion of the controversial decision. A follow-up demonstration to the one held yesterday outside Alþingi is planned for this afternoon.