Pawel confirms Viðreisn caucus was not consulted on referendum date

Iceland’s Viðreisn parliamentary group did not discuss the timing of a referendum on continuing EU accession talks before the date was chosen, group chair Pawel Bartoszek said, according to mbl.is. Jón Gnarr, who has since left the group, criticised the lack of consultation in an interview on mbl.is’s Spursmál programme.

Gnarr said the decision had already been made about when the referendum would be announced and which date would be selected, and that he had not been asked for his views. He said he did not know who had made the decision, though he suspected it was the party chair.

Bartoszek said he learned the date shortly before the press conference where it was announced. He confirmed that the caucus had not held a meeting to discuss possible dates, but said he saw nothing unusual in the process.

Gnarr also argued that announcing the referendum ahead of local elections had overshadowed discussion of local issues, with candidates asked mainly about the referendum. Bartoszek said it could also have attracted attention if Viðreisn MPs had learned the date months before other MPs.

Gnarr’s criticism extended to how Viðreisn operates. In the interview, he compared party chair Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir to Georg Bjarnfreðarson, a character Gnarr created and played in the television series Vaktarþættir.