Icelanders rejected for a second time a plan to repay $5 billion to Britain and the Netherlands from a bank crash, results showed on Sunday, and Iceland’s prime minister warned of economic and political chaos.
Policymakers have said a ‘no’ in the Saturday referendum meant the dispute will end up in a European court. Economists have said the uncertainty is hurting efforts to drag Iceland out of recession, end currency controls and boost investment.
“The worst option was chosen. The vote has split the nation in two,” Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir told state television, saying it was fairly clear the ‘no’ side had won. State television said almost 60 per cent of voters had rejected the agreement, based on results from five out of six voting districts, including the capital Reykjavik.
Many voters were against taxpayers footing the bill for irresponsible bankers. Just over 169,000 votes had been counted out of the 230,000 eligible voters.
Iceland’s prime minister, who has predicted a ‘no’ vote would cause economic uncertainty for at least a year or two, did not say whether the government planned to resign.
“We must do all we can to prevent political and economic chaos as a result of this outcome,” she said. The debt was incurred when Britain and the Netherlands compensated their nationals who lost savings in online “Icesave” accounts owned by Landsbanki, one of three Icelandic banks that collapsed in late 2008.
Britain and the Netherlands both said they were disappointed by the vote. “It is obviously disappointing that it seems that the people of Iceland have rejected what was a negotiated settlement,” Britain’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said.
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“Of course we respect the will of the Icelandic people in this matter and we are going to have to now go and talk to the international partners with whom we work, not least the government of the Netherlands. It now looks like this process will end up in the courts,” he said.
Sigurdardottir said Iceland would now defend its case before the court of the European trade body overseeing Iceland’s cooperation with the EU, the EFTA Surveillance Authority. Economists have said this route could be much costlier. Economic Affairs Minister Arni Arnasson told the television he would be in touch next week with ESA, which said last year, in a first stage in legal proceedings, that Iceland should pay compensation to Icesave depositors.
Angry Icelanders
Icelandic lawmakers in February backed a repayment plan agreed with creditors, but the president refused to sign the bill, triggering the vote. In March 2010, Iceland rejected an earlier Icesave repayment blueprint in a referendum.