Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.05.2019, Blaðsíða 12

Iceland’s right wing populists may not
be a part of the coalition government, or
wield tremendous political power (yet),
but they have already demonstrated an
ability to disrupt the political process
and degrade the public discourse in
a way eerily reminiscent of Ameri-
can Republicans. This may come as a
surprise to those who think of Iceland
as a progressive country, replete with
third-wave feminism, queer pride, and
socialism, but the country’s small, yet
increasingly vocal, contingent of right-
wing populist nationalists are proving
impossible to ignore.
To take one example, there’s these
bons mots from People’s Party chair and
Icelandic MP Inga Sæland voicing her
opposition in Parliament to a bill (which
has since become a law) allowing for
the termination of pregnancy until the
end of the 22nd week: “These halls have
certainly displayed, with great cheering
and hollering, that we intend to make
the decision here to let a 22-week-old
unborn child be killed in the womb. And
I will always say no!”
Baby mail
In an act reminiscent of American anti-
choice protesters, Inga made over the
course of the bill’s debate a decidedly
emotional appeal to the media, employ-
ing a six-year-old child as a prop. A mass
email sent by Inga’s office to the media
included current photographs of a child,
as well as others of the girl as a micro
preemie, born 23 weeks into her moth-
er’s pregnancy.
“Due to the abortion bill that now
awaits voting in Parliament, I am send-
ing you these photos with the knowl-
edge and consent of the parents of this
little girl,” Inga wrote in the email.
It bears mentioning that Inga was
not the sole anti-choice voice in this
discussion. Others from her party, as
well as MPs from the Centre Party, were
also diligent in their opposition to the
bill.
Given the fact that this bill was
created by Left-Green MP and Minis-
ter of Health Svandís Svavarsdóttir, the
emotional blackmail being employed by
the People’s Party and Centre Party had
little chance of derailing it. However,
the rhetoric certainly influenced public
discourse on the matter, which was
arguably Inga’s goal.
The People’s Party isn’t the first in
Iceland to capitalise on the spread of
misinformation. The fact that it takes
considerably less effort to distribute
misinformation than it does to refute
it has been habitually exploited by
Iceland’s populist right-wingers.
The spectre of Europe
The European Union is one of the
populist right’s favourite boogeymen.
While Iceland is not an EU member,
and a slight majority of Icelanders are
against joining, Iceland does belong to
the European Economic Area. In reality,
this means that Iceland is bound by EU
law but, not being represented in the
European Parliament, has no voice in
the drafting or enforcement of these
The Lowest Common
Denominator
Icelandic populists seemingly take cues from American counterparts
Words:
Andie Fontaine
Photos:
Art Bicnick
A typical xenophobic grandma, and also the chair of the People's Party
12 The Reykjavík Grapevine
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