Iceland online for new constitution

Two thirds of Icelanders are on Facebook, so that the constitutional council's weekly conferences are broadcast live on the social network website as well as on the council's web site. "It is feasible to register thru other means, but the majority of the debate happens through Facebook," expounded Berghildur Bernhardsdottir, spokesman for the constitutional review project. When the North Atlantic island country gained autonomy from Denmark in 1944, it simply took the Danish constitution and made one or two minor adjustments ,eg replacing the word "president" for "king." An exhaustive review of the constitution has been on the program ever since then but action came only after the emergency in 2008, when Iceland's main commercial banks slumped inside a week, the krona currency plunged and protests toppled the govt. "To me, it has for some time been clear that a thorough review of the constitution would only be carried out with the direct collusion of the Icelandic people," declared Iceland's P. M.

Johanna Sigurdardottir, one of the champs of the constitutional review since taking office in 2009.

She is saying it's a "distinct possibility" the draft constitution will be put to the people in a ballot before Iceland's parliament discussions last approval. The twenty-five members of the constitutional council were elected by preferred vote from a field of 522 applicants aged eighteen and over.

The council is basing its work on a 700-page report prepared by a panel that considered the results of 950 at random selected Icelanders the nation's Forum who met for a day to chat about the division of powers, conservation and protection, foreign relations and more. the Net part remains the most direct route for most Icelanders to weigh in.

Members of the general public must provide their names and addresses, and can then submit online suggestions, which are accepted by local staff to avoid Net heckling.

The ideas are then passed on to the council, and are open for discourse on the web. "The kind of argumentative and negative discourse which has been common on Icelandic blogs and stories sites, particularly since the commercial collapse, has been nearly wholly absent," Bernhardsdottir expounded. Suggestions have spanned a large range of subjects, from improving the treating of stock to making it simpler for authorities to seize robbed property, asserted Thorvaldur Gylfason, a professor of economics at the School of Iceland and an affiliate of the council. Recommendations accepted by the council including stock protection are added to the draft constitution, which is accessible online and open for comment. It is yet to be seen whether Icelanders can combine behind the most emotionally charged parts of the suggested constitution ,eg nature conservation and possession of Iceland's resources. Major power projects, the specter of a worldwide water dearth and ferocious discussion over the rights to naturally occuring resources like fishing grounds and geothermal energy have made Icelanders seriously aware about the value of their environment. "The suggested constitution outlines access to scrub and untouched nature as a civil rights issue," Gylfason recounted.