Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.06.2018, Síða 12

12 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 09 — 2018
We put a lot into covering the run-up to
last month’s municipal elections. There
was certainly a lot to be excited about. 16
parties in the running, more immigrant
candidates and more women leading
their party lists than ever before. Voter
turnout was also predicted to be higher
than last year, and it was, ultimately.
Things looked set for
there to be a historic
turn of events in
Reykjavík.
Instead, here we
are. Once again, we’re
looking at Reykjavík
being led by either
the Independence
Party or the Social
D e m o c r a t s , t h e
same as it’s been for
decades (while the Social Democrats
were not formed until the turn of the
century, a lot of the same people in that
party comprised R-list, a centre-left
amalgamation of sorts, through the
90s). You can increase the number of
City Council seats from 15 to 23, have
more parties in the running than in
recent memory, and the outcome is still
the same.
It’s not all bad, of course. There is
still a lot of new ground broken by this
City Council and a lot to be happy about.
We need to consider all the elements
at play in order to understand why we
seem to be stuck in a rut.
The two towers
When the last ballots were counted, the
Social Democrats and the Independ-
ence Party were the big winners, getting
seven seats and eight seats respectively.
As tedious as it is to see these same
two parties on top all the time, it’s also
unsurprising.
The Independence Party is more
than a political party. It’s an institu-
tion, a way of life, the default choice
for people who don’t know who else to
vote for. So engrained is their presence,
so natural in our eyes is their position
on top that some polls will actually ask
respondents, “Will you be voting for
the Independence Party or some other
party?” The big blue
bird of prey circles
the skies, always,
casting its harrow-
ing shadow on us
all.
T h e S o c i a l
D e m o c r a t s a r e
more of a Reykjavík
institution. They’re
not that different
from what R-list
used to be, in Reykjavík’s heyday, so
for Reykjavík voters they are usually
the safe bet. So much so that even Jón
Words:
Paul Fontaine
Photo:
Screenshot from
RÚV
“The big blue
bird of prey
circles the skies,
always, casting
its harrowing
shadow on us all.”
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Reykjavík Elections:
Same Choices,
New Faces
With so many running, City Council is
still a two-party system