Icelanders Overthrow Elected Government

[jdinasia]

Icelanders Overthrow Government and Rewrite Constitution After Banking Fraud-No Word From US Media

Can you imagine participating in a protest outside the White House and forcing the entire U.S. government to resign? Can you imagine a group of randomly chosen private citizens rewriting the U.S. constitution to include measures banning corporate fraud? It seems incomprehensible in the U.S., but Icelanders did just that. Icelanders forced their entire government to resign after a banking fraud scandal, overthrowing the ruling party and creating a citizen’s group tasked with writing a new constitution that offered a solution to prevent corporate greed from destroying the country.

full story ... http://guardianlv.com/2013/12/icelanders-overthrow-government-and-rewrite-constitution-after-banking-fraud-no-word-from-us-media/

[Scott]

Moved to World News.

[jdinasia]

If Thaksin's corporate greed and cronyism, and nepotism are the reasons for the overt conflict in Thailand .......

[RickBradford]

Er, this happened almost five years ago.

Street protests (nobody was injured) led to a government resignation on 26 January 2009.

The country had regained its economic stability by late 2011.

[jdinasia]

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-787377

Back in the news as of today. Why? Still no news coverage of what happened there.

Street protests forced the resignation of an elected government and then changed the constitution.

CNN PRODUCER NOTE Dec. 2, 2013: We’ve noticed this iReport is being shared widely on Facebook and Twitter. Please note that this article was posted in May 2012. CNN has not yet verified the claims and we’re working to track down the original writer.
- dsashin, CNN iReport producer (from the link above)

I am unsure about your claims of economic stability by 2011. They don't bear any realation to Iceland's dealings with the IMF or the rejection of IMF demands by the voters in Iceland in 2012.

But again ... this is here because of the fact that it popped up in the news TODAY, and some interesting similarities with the situation in Thailand.

[RickBradford]

In that case, would you agree that the headline:

Icelanders Overthrow Elected Government

in a forum called 'World News', is misleading?

[Scott]

If you have concerns about how the forum is run or what is posted, you may contact a moderator or the Admin. The link is from December 2, 2013.

If you wish to respond to the OP, feel free to do so. If the topic is too for your taste, feel free not to post.

Further off-topic comments will result in a formal warning.

[jdinasia]

No, since that is the title of today's paper http://guardianlv.com/2013/12/icelanders-overthrow-government-and-rewrite-constitution-after-banking-fraud-no-word-from-us-media/

However I can see the argument for a change of tense in their headline

The crisis there is still ongoing and "The Octopus" which could be portrayed at Thaksinocracy in Thailand to some degree is back in the problem there again.

[Mosha]

Dey must do de democracy,

[thailiketoo]

Dey must do de democracy,

I don't care if it is a 5 year old story. As long as one can make an anti Thaksin reference go for it. They didn't overthrow the government in any normal meaning of the word but heck, they protested and had new parliamentary elections.

If you don't mention the election bit it sounds like a natural Thailand connection.

[Chicog]

I do find it amazing that none of the thieving bastards in the US that created this mess through sheer fraud have never been held accountable for it.

Presumably that's because they contribute handsomely to the very lawmakers that should be hauling them up in front of the beak.

[jdinasia]

wrong again ilike ---

They forced out the government

They appointed a people's council and rewrote the constitution

Then they had elections ...

Please feel free to oversimplify (as I certainly have) but they did what Suthep is asking for, for very much the same reasons

[thailiketoo]

wrong again ilike ---

They forced out the government

They appointed a people's council and rewrote the constitution

Then they had elections ...

Please feel free to oversimplify (as I certainly have) but they did what Suthep is asking for, for very much the same reasons

A parliamentary election was held in Iceland on 25 April 2009 following strong pressure from the public as a result of the Icelandic financial crisis. The Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement, which formed the outgoing coalition government under Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, both made gains and now together have an overall majority of seats in the Althing (Iceland's parliament). The Progressive Party also made gains, and the new Citizens' Movement, formed after the January 2009 protests, gained four seats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_parliamentary_election,_2009

[Steely Dan]

Iceland has the world's oldest parliament, making it the world's oldest democracy, whereas Thailand I have heard jokingly referred to as the world's oldest fledgling democracy. I see little prospect of either record changing.

[folium]

Iceland has the world's oldest parliament, making it the world's oldest democracy, whereas Thailand I have heard jokingly referred to as the world's oldest fledgling democracy. I see little prospect of either record changing.

Iceland has no army....another place has been run by the army since 1932, give or take a little window dressing.

[Somtamnication]

Wish we could overthrow the UK govt. Nothing wrong in returning to an older, wiser and truer democracy (or democrazy).

[Steely Dan]

Iceland has the world's oldest parliament, making it the world's oldest democracy, whereas Thailand I have heard jokingly referred to as the world's oldest fledgling democracy. I see little prospect of either record changing.

Iceland has no army....another place has been run by the army since 1932, give or take a little window dressing.

They do have a navy, remember the cod war? The army aren't always on the wrong side by the way, I refer to Egypt where the Muslim brotherhood were thrown out and Turkey where allegedly a coup attempt was thwarted, which would have arguably safeguarded secular constitution from a religious ideologue.

[pardux]

Iceland has the world's oldest parliament, making it the world's oldest democracy, whereas Thailand I have heard jokingly referred to as the world's oldest fledgling democracy. I see little prospect of either record changing.

Iceland has no army....another place has been run by the army since 1932, give or take a little window dressing.

They do have a navy, remember the cod war? The army aren't always on the wrong side by the way, I refer to Egypt where the Muslim brotherhood were thrown out and Turkey where allegedly a coup attempt was thwarted, which would have arguably safeguarded secular constitution from a religious ideologue.

coast guard with a single cannon on a ship is not a navy

and the constitution hasnt been touched, the conservatives filibustered it like the babies that they are until the majority didnt want to bother with it anymore, and the conservatives are in power now again.

and what people were protesting in iceland about was people like suthep and the corruption around the old parties that controlled everything for 100+ years(the bankers in iceland that got rich in the years before 2008 got rich because of the old conservative parties and the families associated with them).

not saying thaksin is a saint but he is a better choice of the 2 evils

[jayboy]

wrong again ilike ---

 

They forced out the government

 

They appointed a people's council and rewrote the constitution

 

Then they had elections ...

 

Please feel free to oversimplify (as I certainly have) but they did what Suthep is asking for, for very much the same reasons

 

This is a particularly stupid post even by his low standards.He neglects to mention that the Icelandic precedent was in the context of a financial debacle - and that there was never the slightest suggestion that popular democracy should be suspended - so no connection whatsoever with Suthep's vision.

[Credo]

It is an interesting concept, but comparing Iceland and Thailand is like apples and ice cicles. There size is different, the diversity of the Thai nation is different and the strength of the institutions in Iceland are quite different. The cultural context is also different with much more uniformity in Iceland than Thailand.

A little like Russia trying to govern a large country with a similar style to Singapore.

Adaptations must be made and what will work for one will likely fail for another.