Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.11.2015, Blaðsíða 16

Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.11.2015, Blaðsíða 16
16 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 17 — 2015 “They fight for civil rights, like they said on TV yesterday, but I want to point out that their battle involves a certain double standard, in that they are fonder of some civil rights than others—this includes, for example, the ones I think are the most im- portant ones, property rights. It is, or was, a left-wing idea, to think of the individual and their property as irrelevant, as part of the greater whole. This is just the old left and right politics. Their most experienced MP [Birgitta Jónsdóttir] says, and has been quoted as saying, that property rights are part of society’s ills. She has said that re- peatedly, and people are obviously aware of [the party's] opinion on property rights. That's why I say they’re really just a normal left-wing party.” -Brynjar Níelsson, Independence Party MP, radio X-ið 97.7, April 8, 2015 “If people's resentment were to lead to rev- olutionary parties—and parties with very unclear ideas of democracy, and parties that want to revolutionize the foundations of society—to come to power, it would be cause for concern for society as a whole […] it would lead to society going on a com- pletely different course, in which it would be difficult to preserve the values that we've championed in the past few decades.” -Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, Progressive Party, DV, June 25, 2015 “You're really asking me if the Pirates are a party that can govern. I don't think any- one is in a position to disqualify those with a strong democratic mandate. But I feel certain individuals in the party are not well grounded […] for example, I believe Birgitta was first seen in Parliament as an employ- ee of the Left Greens. Then she went to Borgarahreyfingin as an MP, but that party didn't live long so she started working with Hreyfingin. Then she ran with the Pirates. To run the country with any integrity you of course need some grounding. The big question regarding new parties like the Pi- rates is: What do they stand for? Do they have any grounding? I think the Pirates are mostly a blank page.” -Minister of Finance Bjarni Benedikts- son, Independence Party, DV, August 28 How Do You Like Those Pirates, Government? Compiled and translated by Gabríel Benjamin WHO ARE THOSE PIRATES? Former occupation: Software engineering Political hero: Edward Snowden Favorite book, band, pool: “I have no answers to the remaining questions.” Top 3 problems that we most ur- gently need to solve in Iceland: 1. Adopt a new constitution, as has been the intention since the founding of the so-called Republic. The current constitution is a royal constitution, and this fact is not merely symbolic but actually permeates all the way down to how elections are confirmed. 2. Figure out how on Earth we're going to retain any semblance of a sane economy alongside a floating króna. 3. Find ways for people whose rights are fragile to seek and defend their rights, most notably the elderly and handicapped people. It's extraor- dinarily difficult for these groups to seek and defend their rights under the current system. Former occupation: Poet, web de- veloper, journalist, graphic designer, translator, maker of books Favourite band of the moment: Muse Favourite book: ‘The Master & Margarita’, and most recently, ‘The Dispossessed’ Political hero: “I can't think of any- body I'd define as political hero, but I seek inspiration from fellow writer Vaclav Havel—and I think the current Pope is a rock star.” Favourite Reykjavík swimming pool: Seltjarnarnes Top 3 problems that we most ur- gently need to solve in Iceland: 1. We need the new constitution to be made into law. 2. We need to show with legislation that we learned something from the banking crisis so that we will not repeat history (very soon). 3. We need to make the Heart of Iceland into a national park, before it’s too late to conserve it. Former occupation: Student, and then working for the Democratic Soci- ety and The Tactical Tech Collective Favourite band of the moment: “I don't listen to music.” Favourite book: Currently, ‘The Book Thief’. Otherwise I'm a boring Harry Potter fan. Political "hero": “The Suffragettes, Sylvia Pankhurst and others. They were basically punks that made a statement about women's suffrage rights.”- Favourite Reykjavík swimming pool: Vesturbæjarlaug Top 3 problems that we most ur- gently need to solve in Iceland: 1. Figure out what to do with the fact that we now own two banks, instead of just one, and what we're going to do with it. 2. We also need to have a broad discussion about the future of the Icelandic króna and its sustainability as a currency if we're going to move away from capital controls. 3. Fix the constitution. Helgi Age: 35 Birgitta Age: 48 Ásta Age: 25 from disparate points on the traditional left/right political spectrum, this meth- odology is part of what unites them. “I definitely approach this job from the perspective of the hacker,” explains Birgitta. “I don’t want to learn what isn’t possible, because as soon as I know about limitations, I start to respect them. It’s better to pretend you don’t know the limitations, so you can break them.” Birgitta employed this wilful naiveté to great effect during the formation of IMMI—the Icelandic Modern Media Ini- tiative—a bill that she championed and shepherded through parliament and into law. The result was a groundbreaking piece of legislation designed to protect freedom of expression for both the press and private individuals. The bill sailed through Alþingi, achieving an unprec- edented level of cross-party support. “It was a big job,” recalls Birgitta. “We tasked the government with changing ten different laws in four different min- istries. Not only was it a vision on where we were going as a nation, but it set the bar high—we wanted the best laws in all those fields. The bill was unanimously adopted, which had never happened before. And something all good activ- ists know is that once you’ve crossed a threshold, the way is open for others to follow. So there’s been much more of this type of work in parliament since then.” Even so, Birgitta has found that bringing the different laws through the system and into effect is a long road. “It has been a disappointment for me and many others how slowly the writing of the laws has progressed,” she says. “It’s an ongoing process of applying pressure on all fronts in order to make sure that the various different laws of IMMI will be written and adopted. The good news regarding IMMI and the tasks involved is that the IMMI laws are being written by a very active steering committee in one of the ministries.” Fishing and porn The rejection of party-political dogma that the Pirates demonstrated in the IMMI process is perhaps part of what’s endeared them to an electorate jaded by traditional politics following a cata- strophic economic crash, and the subse- quent return to “business as usual.” Ásta Guðrún Helgadóttir is the newest Pirate MP in parliament, having recently com- pleted her political history studies and stepped into the seat vacated by retired MP Jón Þór Ólafsson. She’s a perfect tes- tament to the power of the Pirate Party’s inclusivity—a newly-minted 25-year-old MP who’s been in the job for just a week when we first meet. "I started in Icelandic politics in 2013,” says Ásta, sitting in the Pirate Par- ty office on the nearby Austurstræti. “I’d been following what happened after the crash in 2008. A lot of kids were pretty disengaged, I don’t think they realised the seriousness of it—at least amongst my peers, I was the only one who was follow- ing it. But in 2013 the Pirate Party came along. The freedom of information aspect attracted me—I’m very much against censorship.” One idea being mooted at the time
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