Members of parliament and ministers have expressed their doubts regarding Svandís Svavarsdóttir’s COVID-19 monitoring measures, cf. Fréttablaðið.
There are concerns within Parliament about the legitimacy and proportionality of the measures taken to address COVID-19 and the economic and social impact of these measures. Three ministers of the Independence Party are among the skeptics: Áslaug Arna Sigurnjörnsdóttir, Minister of Justice, Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir, Minister of Tourism and Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The ministers of the Progressive Party and the Left Greens are behind Svandís and the actions she has taken so far. But it seems to have come as a surprise to many members of parliament that the Minister of Health approved new epidemiologists’ proposals for tougher measures in the capital area without first discussing them with the government as usual.
Influencing constitutional rights
Many in the parliament are concerned that they have gone too far in allowing experts to take the lead in decision-making and say that the freedom of the people in Iceland is greatly affected and that it is natural for democratically elected representatives to be more involved in making such decisions. .
Brynjar Níelsson is among those who are concerned about the legitimacy of Svandís’ actions and believes that they go too far against the constitutionally protected rights of the public. Brynjar expressed his concerns at a meeting with the Constitutional and Monitoring Committee yesterday. Other MPs have also expressed concern that proportionality is not maintained in the implementation of individual measures.
There have also been enormous concerns that the consequences of measures against COVID-19, both economically and socially, have not been taken into account.
Source: The Nordic Page