Almost a quarter of Icelandic voters are demanding their president veto a deal that would see tax payers foot the bill for the country’s failed banks.
 
A petition containing more than 56 thousand signatures was handed in after parliament narrowly approved a plan to repay 3.5 billion euros owed to British and Dutch savers who had invested in Icesave.
 
The petition, which also calls for a referendum on the plan, was handed to President Olaf Ragnar Grimsson in person.
 
Magnus Arni Skulason helped organise the petition.
 
“We were able to represent our arguments to the president, and also on the occasion, we handed over a petition that is signed by a quarter of the Iceland voters to ask the president to reject the current Icesave bill,” he said. “The interest rate on the Icesave agreement for Iceland is like running the NHS, the national health service for Iceland for six months.”
 
The repayment deal was drawn up with UK and Dutch governments after Icesave, the online arm of Landsbanki, collapsed.
 
The longstanding dispute has held up payment of some aid funds from international lenders and has clouded Raykjavik’s chances of joining the EU.

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