On Saturday, Iceland held a national gathering or assembly. It comprised 1,000 people chosen at random from the electoral register. Those randomly chosen included the prime minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. In the end, 950 people attended.

As per a previous post, the national assembly was chosen so that citizens had the opportunity to identify the aspects of the constitution that they would like to see addressed. Their conclusions will shape the proceedings of the constitutional parliament that will be elected later this month and that will meet in February.

The assembly’s website lists the various areas that were discussed and the findings. Under the heading ‘The Division of Powers’, the following points were noted: “Ministers shall not serve as members of parliament along with their ministry post … The power of the President of Iceland shall be reconsidered and a decision shall be made regarding his veto. There should be a time limit to the membership of parliament”. So, it could well be that the constitutional parliament will debate changes that affect the role of the president.

The assembly’s website also provides useful details of the whole revision process.