Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.02.2018, Page 20

20 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 02 — 2018
You started your career editing
for book publishers as well as
teaching, and your brothers
are both respected writers and
academics. Was it never tempting
to head farther in that direction?
“I am still heading there. It was never
my plan to make politics a lifelong
career. I am only 41 and I think that’s
where I will end up when I am done
here.”
So how did you end up in politics?
“Well, I am a person of strong opinions.
Most members of my family were, but
my parents were not party affiliated.
And I was always very socially engaged
and wound up in committees, be it at
school or in my apartment building. I
would always show up for cleaning day.
When social engagement and strong
opinions go together, politics is a natu-
ral place to wind up.”
Did you ever consider joining other
parties? Why the Left-Greens?
“I initially joined the Left-Greens be-
cause of the Kárahnjúkar Dam [the
building of the dam in the highlands
was a hotly contested issue at the turn
of the century, fiercely opposed by the
Left-Greens]. That was when I decided
that this was my party.”
When you first entered Parliament
after the 2007 elections, the
banking boom was in full swing.
Everyone seemed to be into the
free market and the Left-Greens
doomed to perpetual opposition.
“Our sister parties in the Nordic Coun-
tries are used to being in opposition
and there hasn’t been a Prime Minister
from a party like this, to the left of the
Social Democrats, in those countries. I
joined the Left-Greens in 2002 and was
election manager in Reykjavik during
the 2003 elections when we were los-
ing a percentage point a week. It was
an interesting learning experience. I
was the leader of the youth movement
at the time, and was asked to be vice-
party chairman as a representative of
the young people. We then did better
in the 2006 municipal elections and, in
the end, that led to me being elected as
MP in 2007.”
And then everything changed.
“I was pregnant when I entered Parlia-
ment and had a baby on December 31st,
2007. When I returned from maternity
leave in the autumn of 2008, there was
the economic collapse and a loom-
ing depression. It was said that this
would be the only chance for us to en-
ter government, after a near national
bankruptcy. I think we did many good
things, such as tackling wealth in-
equality, but there were many difficult
issues to deal with, such as the Icesave
debt and the EU membership applica-
tion, which was a bone of contention
throughout the term.”
You became Minister of Education
and Culture in the coalition
government between Left-Greens
and Social Democrats from 2009
to 2013. At the time you said that
you would probably be the most
unpopular minister ever to hold
that position since, due to the
overall situation, you would be
forced to make many cutbacks.
“It was a strange position to be in. I am
very passionate about these issues and
yet I had to make budget cuts. I tried to
be in good contact with all interested
parties to find out how best to go about
this. I think on the whole, the educa-
tion system performed admirably in
those trying times, for example by al-
lowing people to study who had lost
their jobs.”
But even now, with the economy
doing well, the student loan
office is making cutbacks by
no longer giving out loans to
PhD. students, for example.
The rules change every year.
“I will have to look into that. We are
going to be making a long-term policy
in this field. The student loan system
laws haven’t been revised since 1991,
except when the guarantor system was
abolished in 2009. That was my first
act as Education Minister [under the
old system, friends and family of stu-
dents would act as guarantors of their
loans and be liable in case of default].”
In 2013, you were voted out of
government and were back in
opposition. But instead of leaving
politics, you became chairman
of your party. Wasn’t it tempting
to move on at this point?
“I often feel I do better in adversity. We
felt we could learn a lot from our cabi-
net experience and did a lot of work
within our party. We were also in fi-
nancial dire straits since, by losing half
of our votes, we also lost a lot of the
government subsidies (in the Icelan-
dic system, any party that attains more
than 2.5 percent of the votes gets subsi-
dised by the government based on their
size). I felt it was a worthwhile chal-
lenge. But at the same time, it must be
said that it can be challenging to turn
being in opposition into a creative en-
deavour. Even if we try to be effective,
the goal is to always be able to affect
policy changes, and the best way to do
this is to be in government.”
It has often been said that politics
in the other Nordic Countries
is more consensus-based…
“Here there is more conflict, yes.”
New parties have been formed
lately with the intent of changing
the political culture, but this seems
to be happening very slowly.
“I believe that this should be possible,
but we often seem to revert to the old
ways. We also have to face the fact that
very often, we just disagree on matters.
Now we have a chance to be in a gov-
ernment where the parties often don’t
agree, which is very different from tak-
ing part in a government made up of
two left-of-centre parties. Yes, we may
not always agree, but what are we go-
ing to do about it? In the other Nordics,
there is a greater tradition of submit-
ting legislation to bipartisan commit-
tees before debating it in Parliament.
We have sometimes done this success-
fully, such as with the immigration
laws, or the housing bills, which were
done in a bipartisan manner.”
Politics didn’t really seem
to register much during the
boom years. Those weren’t
very political times…
“Then there was an awakening, and a
lot of interest in politics, all of a sud-
den. Previously, politicians had been
seen as somewhat annoying. Up until
then, the Kárahnjúkar Dam had been
the only issue people got very excited
about. I showed up to protest the dam
as well as the Iraq War.”
But now there seems to be more of
an exhaustion with politics. Do you
think that the period that started
in 2008 is coming to a close?
“During the last elections, we tried
door-to-door campaigning to speak
directly with voters, which was pretty
common in the old days. People had
differing opinions and wanted to dis-
cuss different things, but the one thing
almost everyone agreed upon was that
they did not want another election for
four years. So yes, people seem to be
getting tired of the turbulence.”
The New Party
Politics
The Left-Greens made gains in the
elections in both 2016 and 2017, which
were both held prematurely as a result
of Prime Ministers on the right being
involved in scandals. In late November,
a new government was formed under
the premiership of Katrín Jakobsdót-
tir, consisting of former adversaries
of the Left-Greens: the Conservative
Independence Party, as well as the
Centre-Right Progressive Party. This
was a constellation not seen in Icelan-
dic politics since before the beginning
of the Cold War and was contested by
many within her own party.
Such a wide coalition may achieve
stability by bringing the various
factions together, but isn’t it
possible that it may lead to less
political debate in general?
“Perhaps in some ways. But we do have
eight parties in Parliament (an Icelan-
dic record) and five opposition parties
should give us plenty of debate. And
Icelanders remain Icelanders. Many
were very unhappy with me for start-
ing the talks at all, and that is fine. I
understand that completely. But many
were also glad to see something new in
politics, here. The reaction was all over
the map.”
In Germany, they have had
problems forming a government.
What is feared there is that when
the two largest parties are in power,
this will lead to more radicalisation
of the extremes as parts of society
feel unrepresented. The large
parties tend to grow smaller, and
some voters start to feel that
all politicians are the same.
“I feel that to some extent, this has
happened here already. We have seen
great changes in the party structure
and many new parties running. I think
this coalition government is an at-
tempt to shake up old ideas about the
party structure. It may be taking a risk,
but so is being alive.”
Do you think it may lead to new
lines being drawn instead of
the left-right ones of the 20th
Century? Could EU membership be
one of the new dividing issues?
“Well, [non-membership] is one thing
that the government parties do agree
upon. But I think that the left-right
spectrum will remain important in
the 21st Century. We now have an op-
portunity to create consensus around
issues that we need more consensus
about, such as the environment, and
the basic social issues that we urgently
need to address. There is a demand to
redistribute the government income
that has increased due to the economic
recovery into the health sector, educa-
tion and into stronger welfare. This is
our great task.”
What then is the main difference
between the government
and opposition today?
“During the collapse, we had a grand
coalition (Social Democrats and Con-
servatives), then a left-wing govern-
ment, then two right-wing ones, and
now there is another grand coalition.
But the opposition is also mixed, and
that is the difference from the opposi-
tions that I have been a part of, which
have been centre-left ones. We are be-
ing criticised from different sides; for
not spending enough on infrastructure
or spending too much; for not rais-
ing taxes enough or raising them too
much. The opposition was divided on
capital gains taxes, for example. There
aren’t clear lines anymore.”
Won’t it be difficult for the voter
to decide where he belongs?
“Perhaps that’s where we are. There
have been tremors in the party struc-
ture in Iceland and it hasn’t quite found
its new form.”
The post-collapse era is
not quite over then?
“Not at all.”
MeToo and
Ministers of
Loneliness
As in many countries fewer people
in Iceland are voting these days, even
if the proportion remains fairly high
at 80 percent. Of particular worry
are younger voters, with around a 20
percent gap between participation in
younger and older age groups in most
elections.
You say you entered politics
because of the Kárahnjúkar Dam.
What might the young Katríns out
there today get fired up about?
“That’s a good question. I have visited
secondary schools and spoken to peo-
ple who just have, or are just about to,
get their voting rights. They are very
interested in gender and equality is-
sues. But in the past few years, I have
also sensed there is increasing interest
in social issues, mental health issues
and social deprivation. The British gov-
ernment has now created a Minister of
Loneliness. I think this is what young
people are thinking a lot about—new
ways of interacting that have led to
“In the past few
years, I have
sensed there’s
increasing
interest in
social issues,
mental health
issues and social
deprivation.”
“I think the social
awareness of
this generation
is very positive—
there’s a lot of
knowledge about
environmental
issues, climate
change and the
refugee crisis.”