Party leader calls poll clear verdict on economic management

Independence Party leader Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir says a new Gallup poll for Viðskiptablaðið delivers a clear verdict on the government’s economic management, mbl.is reports.

Nearly 90 per cent of respondents who expressed an opinion said the government had performed poorly in promoting lower interest rates, while 85 per cent said it had performed poorly in tackling inflation.

“People see through the slogans and political catchphrases when reality tells a completely different story,” Guðrún wrote on Facebook.

She said the government had promoted an “autumn of value creation” last year, but that this had instead become a spring of interest-rate increases. Rates rose again last week, she wrote.

“The government has in reality given up on the task it was elected to solve and turned to reviving Iceland’s old 2009 application for membership of the European Union,” Guðrún wrote.

She said Saturday’s referendum would concern restarting membership negotiations on the basis of the 2009 application. The basic conditions for membership were set out in the European Union’s treaties and legal framework, as well as in the experience of its 27 member states, she said.

“Interest rates and inflation fall through discipline in public finances, lower charges on people and companies, and increased value creation,” Guðrún wrote. She said the government had been elected to resolve those issues at home and could not divert the debate by claiming that everything would improve simply by reopening negotiations with the European Union.

“Responsibility for economic management lies with the government,” she wrote.