The weekly protests at Austurvollur Square in Reykjavik are now beginning their tenth week. Yesterday’s protest rally (number nine) went ahead peacefully, without a single egg being thrown at the parliament building.
Two speakers took to the stage to demand new elections and the resignation of the boards of the central bank and the FME national financial regulatory body.
Police estimates that only 1,000 to 1,500 people attended the protest mean that yesterday’s was the smallest rally since the movement started snowballing in mid October. Organisers will have to wait until next Saturday to find out whether the blustery weather was the sole reason for the low turn out.
“The responsibility is not ours, but rather the nation’s politicians,” speaker Gerdur Kristny said in her speech to the protest. “We must continue to demand answers from them on how our financial system went to the dogs – and let them take the responsibility to ensure it never happens again!”
The protest is scheduled to take place again next Saturday afternoon, and the protest movement now has a headquarters open to the public at Borgartun 3. www.raddirfolksins.org is the organisation’s new website address.
(photo: mbl.is/Ómar)
It is nice to see Icelanders are calming down and accepting their plight.
The reason for lower attendance was maybe partially caused by Christmas shopping and bad weather-but as far as I know Icelanders are strong people who do not mind bad weather and also they do not have too much money to spend this Christmas – so the main reason seems to be very similar:
The protest speakers are still repeating how things went wrong, who should resign, who is guilty, who is not responsible(naturally them-even if also they were enjoying high standard of living during previous years-under current government…..and some of them might have voted current governing parties), they are offering just swearing, pesimism and suppose that EU could save Iceland like some Messiah (what is pointless assumption).
HOWEVER – THEY DO NOT OFFER ANY PARTICULAR REALISTIC AND USEFUL SOLUTION, SUGGESTION OR IDEA HOW TO IMPROVE CURRENT SITUATION….HOW THE THINGS SHOULD GO BETTER.
Everybody would be fed up after listening thousand times to the same hit in pop-music……and it is the same with protest’s speeches…….they repeat the same useless staff……so why should (clever) people freeze outside listening to them.
And I still believe that Icelanders are clever nation.
AFRAM ISLAND.
“Yesterday’s protest rally (number nine) went ahead peacefully, without a single egg being thrown at the parliament building.”
Eggs are now too expensive to be thrown away ;-)
Financial Crisis; Soon In Your Country.
It is maddening how the world has turned its back on Iceland. There has been no press coverage of the protest follow up at all in the press in American, New Zealand, Australian, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canadian etc.. I have been tracking and found my way to this website.
Sadly Iceland was used as an ‘experiment’ (like Ireland, where opposite was trialed to pump in EU fund money to buy a Yes vote…but it turned out ‘No’), there are many reasons why Iceland is NOT part of the European Union…. Think About it !! The ‘finanical terrorism’ attack on Iceland was twofold to see how a society reacts to collapse, and once collapsed leaves the ‘natural resources’ exposed for plucking (oil, gas, fisheries etc) by the Puppet Masters (BP, Shell, Rothschils etc..).
I hope everyone in Iceland will realise this crime against them and succeed in expelling their government, and start to rebuild a strong relisiant economy again.
James, Brisbane, Australia
Whether their fault or not it’s nice to see someones feet being held to the fire. This is why you don’t want to fail as a politician. In the US it seems they do what they want and laugh in our faces.
‘I hope everyone in Iceland will realise this crime against them ‘ YAWN, WOE IS ME ME ME ME ME ME.
@stan,
That’s pretty much been the tune from Iceland thus far. Poor little me. Wasn’t me gov. Dunno where the money went. I think most of us non-Icelanders are going to give anything associated with Iceland a pretty damn wide berth.
>”The responsibility is not ours, but rather the >nation’s politicians”
Representative government is a bitch. I’d have a little more sympathy if even a large minority of the MPs had approved the vote of no confidence a couple of weeks ago.
@ Stan and Kam
I think you’re missing the point somewhat. The protesters are there to demand new elections and the removal of Oddsson at the central bank. That is what people like you have been imploring them to do all along.
The wording used may sound feeble to you, but it’s not really: “they messed up and now it’s up to us to force them to recognise that fact”.
Sounds like tough talk to me!
“people like you have been imploring them to do all along”
This protest have been a charade!
While you have 25 kids really doing the action, the rest of the population thinks is too late to stay up protesting because they have to go to dinner.
I mean, I am dreaming?
Then we read thing about helping the Icelanders and charity to the poor Icelanders. Please… You are just a band of cowards!
If Icelanders want to change the government, they will have done it long time ago.
Iceland will stay just like it is and will get worse, because the majority is comfortably at home acting like pigs!