Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.05.2013, Page 8

To put it in simple terms, the two right-wing political par-
ties in Iceland, The Independence Party and The Progressive
Party, each won 19 out of 63 seats in the Icelandic parliament.
This has caused much bafflement in the non-Icelandic press
as this means that 60.3% of the members of the incoming
parliament belong to parties who are largely blamed for the
2008 financial crash. These two parties ruled together from
1995–2007 and their policies arguably created the conditions
that resulted in the collapse of the Icelandic banking sector.
HOW CAN ICELANDERS
BE SO FORGIVING?
Not so much forgiving as angry and looking for an outlet.
Since the financial crash, anger has torn through Iceland like
Godzilla through Tokyo. The outgoing left-wing government
MPs were like earnest scientists trying various ways to get
Godzilla to return to the ocean from whence it came. To add
to the foreign media's puzzlement over the election result, the
left-wing government was widely held to have been extremely
successful in terms of their economic stewardship. Their op-
ponents, however, had Godzilla on their side.
SO THE RIGHT-WING TEAMED UP WITH
GODZILLA TO BATTER THE LEFT-WING?
The story is a little bit more complicated than that. The more
right-wing of the two parties, The Independence Party, did not
do as well in the election as expected. In fact its 26.7% vote-
share is the second lowest the party has ever received in a
national election, the lowest being the 2009 election just after
the financial crash. Nevertheless, it did get the largest share
of votes. However The Progressive Party went from 14.8% to
24.4%, getting its best result since 1979. The two parties to-
gether received just a shade over 51% of the total vote.
THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY THAT
CLAIMED THE ANGRY VOTE?
Yes, they harnessed the anger of the Icelandic electorate and
rode it to victory, like everyone who has triumphed in Ice-
landic elections since the financial crash. The left-wing par-
ties were the obvious beneficiaries of anti-capitalist anger in
the post-crash 2009 parliamentary election. In 2010, the Best
Party, led by comedian Jón Gnarr and his hipster buddies, ap-
pealed to anti-politician anger in Reykjavík's municipal vote.
In 2012, President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson won re-election
by presenting himself as the Icelandic people's friend against
foreign capitalists and treacherous politicians, mixed with a
dose of "pretty ladies cannot be president" sexism against his
female opponent.
WITH GODZILLA ON YOUR SIDE,
NOTHING CAN DEFEAT YOU.
The left-wing did not help themselves. There were a total of
fifteen parties running for parliament, of which ten could be
reasonably argued were mainly of the left or appealed to vot-
ers who would vote for left-wing parties, and seven of those
parties received more than one percent of the vote. The outgo-
ing government failed to articulate a political programme that
could unite left-wing voters, and its signature proposal for a
new constitution died after right-wing filibustering. The left-
wing parties even failed to unite their own MPs.
THE LEFT-WING DIDN'T SPLINTER SO
MUCH AS NEVER BIND TOGETHER?
This fracturing of the left-wing started while the outgoing
government was in power. They, the Social Democratic Al-
liance and the Left Green Movement, started with a majority
of 34, but had effectively become a minority government by
the end of it, as one Social Democratic MP and three Left-
Green MPs left. Furthermore, the left-wing Citizen's Move-
ment party split in three. Due to this fracturing the left-wing
parties received 39% of the seats in parliament, while winning
44% of the vote.
SO THEY STILL SHOULD'VE LOST,
BUT JUST NOT AS THOROUGHLY
AS THEY DID.
Pretty much. Though the picture of left and right, which is
reductive to begin with, is further complicated by the fact
that The Progressive Party swept to victory on anti-capitalist
rhetoric, saying it would lessen the debt-burden of Icelandic
home-owners by taking money from what they term "vulture
funds." Though it should be clear this was not traditional left-
wing anti-capitalism so much as an appeal to anti-foreign
sentiment. Furthermore, one other reason for their success is
residual goodwill The Progressive Party has in rural Iceland
from back when it was the political arm of the farmers' and
village cooperatives movement.
WHAT DID THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY OF-
FER GODZILLA TO SECURE ITS FAVOUR?
Debt relief, 11.5% of the electorate are unable to pay their
creditors, and many more are just barely keeping up. The Pro-
gressive Party said it would cut housing debts by 20%, though
who exactly would qualify for this debt relief has not been
made entirely clear. But that sounded good to Godzilla, and it
hugged The Progressive Party to its chest. But no one knows
if Godzilla will stay appeased or return to menace Icelandic
society.
So What's This Right-Wing Election
Victory I Keep Hearing About?
by Kári Tulinius
While Icelanders celebrated the
first day of summer this month,
April has proven to be one of the
coldest on record.
Could it be that the weather gods
are punishing us for complacency?
After all, Iceland did return to status
quo politics as The Independence
Party received the biggest share of
the popular vote in Parliamentary
elections held on April 27.
Or could it be the influence of
reported alien activity in the Icelan-
dic skies, as a local extra-terrestrial
enthusiast confirmed 160 UFO
sightings? And CCP Games
just so happens to hold their an-
nual Eve Online sci-fi fanfest this
month and stir up controversy in
the art world?

Meanwhile, mysterious hi-
eroglyphics appear in Grjótagjá
lava cave and Hverfjall crater in
the north which further corrobo-
rate a more recent study showing
Icelanders to be Nordic leaders
of literacy (as the word ‘CAVE’ ap-
peared in the cave and ‘CRATER’
in the said crater.) Coincidence? I
don’t think so.
Then again, our detractors
might maintain that shit weather
is this country’s birth right, signed
and sealed like the "incest app,"
which made its debut this month.
In any case, the weather didn’t
scare off the Chinese, who signed
a new free trade agreement with
Iceland on April 15, or Spotify,
which is now accessible here, or
the three sheep found wandering
the Þorgeirsfjörður area in the north
after being lost in last autumn’s
snowstorms and spending an entire
winter outside on the loose.
While it may have put the wind
in the sails of The Pirate Bay boat,
which anchored on an Icelandic
server for two days before setting
sail for the Caribbean, the Pirate
Party still managed to uncover
a little treasure among Icelandic
voters, securing its first ever three
seats in Alþingi.
And the weather certainly didn’t
drive away the tourists, who
flocked here in record numbers,
so much so that police sent out
warnings about speeding on
the road (apparently a problem
among car-renting visitors), while
the Blue Lagoon felt the need to
enforce a new booking system and
collect a fee from those looking to
take a stroll around its industrial
run-off waters.
No, it’s not the weather that’s
frightening people around here.
The real jolts are coming from
big industries, like those look-
ing to expand power plants and
develop in the highlands, causing
some 5000 environmentalists to
demonstrate in front of Alþingi on
May 1.
NEWS IN BRIEF
APRIL
Iceland | FAQ
8The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 5 — 2013
Photo: DV / Sigtryggur Ari