Constitutional reform proposal: Some highlights

The CAC reached a consensus, approving the bill 25–0, a remarkable feat, not least in view of the fact that the reforms proposed are quite radical in a number of ways. The bill stresses checks and balances between the three branches of government as well as between power and accountability. It stresses transparency, fairness, protection of the environment, and efficient and fair exploitation plus national ownership of the nation’s natural resources. It is intended to stamp out corruption and secrecy, yet leaves both words unspoken. It declares in a preamble that: “We, the people of Iceland, wish to create a just society with equal opportunities for everyone.” Here are some of the highlights.

One person, one vote

“The votes of voters everywhere in the country shall have equal weight.” This is important because MPs from rural areas currently have much fewer votes behind them than their fellow MPs from the Reykjavík area, with far-reaching political and economic consequences. The same article states: “A voter selects individual candidates from slates in his electoral district or from nationwide slates or both. A voter is also permitted instead to mark a single district slate or a single nationwide slate, in which case the voter will be understood to have selected all the candidates on the slate equally.” Voters will thus be free to cast their votes for parties as now or for individual candidates on different slates. This matters because, among other things,corruption is more prevalent in countries with small electoral districts and party slates than in countries with large electoral districts where voters have an opportunity to elect individual candidates (Persson and Tabellini 2005, Ch. 7).