The claim is they're being played like fools. In the end it's like the Italians voting for Berlusconi, the Thai voting for Thaksin... The Progressive Party leader (Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson) is nothing if not media savvy (he was behind the inDefence petition) and very wealthy.

Economic Disaster Area: What Have You Done? (January 7th, 2010)

What could have been so hard to misunderstand about the InDefence petition's opening statement?
"I challenge the president of Iceland, Mr. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson to reject the new IceSave bill. I think that it is fair to demand that the economic burden imposed on the Icelandic public and the future generations of this country will be put to a national referendum where the Icelandic nation gets to vote on it."

The front page of Frettabladid also reveals an interesting turnabout. Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and especially Bjarni Benediktsson are now against a national referendum. They would prefer the bill to be revoked and new negotiations should take place between Iceland and the UK and Netherlands. Petur Blondal, the Independence Party MP who sponsored a bill a couple of weeks ago asking for a national referendum said yesterday that "MP's have to sponsor bills all the time which they don't necessarily agree on wholeheartedly" as he now claims that a national referendum would be less preferable to renegotiating.

(this was written shortly after the President of Iceland refused to sign the Icesave bill thereby precipitating the referendum)

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma