Following the collapse of the Icelandic government in January, there will be an election on 25 April.

As reported previously, one of the commitments of the new government was a process of constitutional deliberation/change. The new government had been preparing the reform and had recently presented a bill to the Alþingi. However, according to Morgunblaðið, on Friday the bill was withdrawn as the opposition Independence Party threatened to filibuster it.

Morgunblaðið reports that the changes included “provisions on Iceland’s natural resources going into public ownership, the public being able to demand referendums and the public being able to participate in a constitutional parliament to further change the constitution”.

On the assumption that the election returns the incumbent government, and opinion polls suggest this is highly likely (the Independence Party is reported as being in an unprecedented third place according to the most recent opinion poll), the plan will be to reintroduce the bill after the election.

(It is worth noting that the Alþingi is still in session only slightly more than a week before the election. This is probably a record of some sort).