Reykjavík Grapevine - sept 2021, Qupperneq 10

10 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 09— 2021
Brynja Dan, 2nd on the list in the Reykjavík
North district for the Progressive Party
1. I’m 36-years old and own a small company
in Smáralind called Extraloppan. I sit on the
board of Barnaheill and Icelandic Adoptions
and am very passionate about issues related
to children.
2. The Progressive Party has done great
things during this last term. Minister of
Social and Children’s Affairs Ásmundur
Einar [Da"ason] has served during the
greatest improvements to the social welfare
system in decades. This work has only just
begun, and it is extremely important that he
gets to continue his work. We also empha-
sise green infrastructure, small and medium
sized companies, and elderly persons issues.
3. Children’s issues, preventative measures
where we invest in people, climate change
and our health care system are the issues we
most need to deal with.
4. The Progressive Party is a party of coopera-
tion. We do not rule out working with anyone
ahead of time.
5. This is true, and something we need to
improve, as Parliament should best reflect
the composition of the nation. The Progres-
sive Party is responding to this by, for exam-
ple, having an immigrant in third on the list
for the southwest district, and the Social
Minister appointed a person of foreign
origin to the directorship of a government
office. This is unfortunately uncommon. The
Progressives want a diverse society and this
is of course a part of it.
Donata H. Bukowska, 7th on the list for the
Southwest district for the Social Demo-
cratic Alliance
1. I came to Iceland 20 years ago but I was born
and raised in south Poland. I am a mother
of two young children, and a primary school
teacher educated in, amongst other things,
teaching Icelandic as a second language,
biology and Polish. I have also been a teach-
ing consultant for students with Icelandic
as a second language in Kópavogur primary
schools but in the spring I began working
as an expert in school development for the
Ministry of Culture and Education.
2. All of the work of the Social Democrats
is based on a policy of equality, which I am
deeply fond of. The values, ideology and
emphasis of the party and its platform mesh
very well with my own personal values and
political opinions. That’s why there’s no
question in my mind about participating in
the party. The Social Democrats are the one
party in Iceland with a realistic and ambi-
tious platform based on equal opportunities
for everyone.
3. Health care, education, and the new consti-
tution.
4. I would never form a government with the
Centre Party, the Independence Party, or the
Icelandic National Front [a far right party not
polling anywhere high enough to win a seat
in Parliament].
5. I am certain that, with time, we will see
more immigrants win seats in Parliament.
This active participation takes time, both
for society and for immigrants themselves.
It still doesn’t happen automatically, so we
need to work purposefully to create a more
open society that accepts immigrants with an
open mind and celebrates their backgrounds,
strengths, knowledge and efforts regard-
less of whether they speak Icelandic with
an accent, use poor grammar or can’t trace
their ancestry back to the Settlement times.
To get immigrants to take an active part in
politics, we also need to build real trust with
them, and the feeling that they can make a
difference, and that their voices are just as
important as the voices of in-born Iceland-
ers. In the Social Democrats, there is a great
deal of will to support the active participa-
tion of immigrants in society and politics. As
my experience shows, all are welcome in the
party to work with us, or just to pop by and
chat. I am certain my party will continue to
work purposefully to increase the participa-
tion and inclusion of immigration in Icelan-
dic democracy.
Lenya Rún Taha Karim, 3rd on the list for
the Reykjavík North district for the Pirate
Party.
1. My name is Lenya Rún Taha Karim, a
21-year old law student who is running
for Parliament for the Pirate Party in the
Reykjavík North constituency. I am of Kurd-
ish origin and the daughter of an immigrant
and a refugee.
2. I chose the Pirate Party for numerous
reasons. Not only do I agree with their poli-
cies, but I also thought it would be a perfect
fit for someone like me—I’m a person of
colour and I wouldn‘t be subjected to token-
ism there. The Pirate Party focuses on human
rights issues just as much as economi-
cal issues, which shows you can facilitate a
progressive economy while advocating for
human rights issues at the same time.
The answer to why the Pirate Party should
get someone‘s vote instead of another party is
quite broad. Firstly, the Pirate Party requires
transparency when it comes to decision
making—that is a very important quality
for a political party to have. Secondly, the
Pirate Party has a very strong and capable
grassroot, which shows how important real
democracy is to them. Thirdly, the Pirate
party submits proposals and legislations that
are important to address as soon as possi-
ble. A clear example of this was during the
2021 Israel-Palestine crisis, when the Pirate
Party submitted a parliamentary resolution
as soon as they could to take some sort of
action. To sum this up, the Pirate Party is an
honest, democratic and diplomatic party. I
think we could do great things if we were to
form a government with parties whose poli-
cies align with ours.
3. The climate crisis, decriminalization of
drugs and immigrant/refugee matters.
4. Yes, the Centre Party and Independence
Party. I would love to see a government
formed without the Independence Party—
they are intertwined with some of the biggest
lobby groups in Iceland and we will never see
radical change when that’s the case. As for
the Centre Party, I think their ideas and poli-
cies could be downright dangerous to the
public.
5. I think that there is definitely a lack of
immigrant representation in Parliament. I
didn‘t have any role models when I started
out in politics, nor did I grow up with any
representation. The lack of representation
and role models could lead to other immi-
grants being hesitant when it comes to
running for Parliament. I hope to be the role
model and representation for others that I
lacked when I was starting out in politics.
As for the Pirate Party, I truly believe they
will be as welcoming to other immigrants
or people of foreign origin as they were to
me. Inclusion is very important. Our society
desperately needs to welcome more diversity
and it needs to be reflected in positions of
power.
Kristbjörg Eva Andersen Ramos, 7th on
the list for the Reykjavík North district for
the Socialist Party.
1. My name is Kristbjörg Eva and I am running
for the Socialist Party.
2. I am running for the Socialist Party because
it is the only party representing the lower
class. The party's values are ones which every
society should strive for: freedom, equality,
humanity and compassion. These goals will
only be reached by bringing power to the
citizens of the country. The Socialist Party
of Iceland is the party of wage earners and
all those who suffer from want, invisibility
and abjection. The opponents of the Socialist
Party of Iceland are the capitalist class and
its functionaries. The terrain of the Socialist
Party of Iceland is a broad class struggle that
rejects compromise and false dialogue. And
that is why it is important that people vote
what’s best for our society and that’s why they
should put X to J.
3. Healthcare. The issues concerning the
hospital are a disgrace to our people. There
have to be revolutionary changes to turn
things around for the better, including the
care of the health care workers. Environmen-
tal issues—this is a no-brainer. It is time we
have a strong leader to lead the community to
a better world. It is only when the leaders of
our country take action against big corporate
companies that we will see change. Our tax
system and reconstruction of the tax system,
with an eye on making the wealthy pay an
adequate share in common expenditures but
alleviating the burden of others.
4. Yes, the Independence Party.
5. In my opinion it is unacceptable that there
is no representation for such a big commu-
nity. Iceland takes pride in being known for
their successful battle for equality but the
reality is that a big portion of people, mostly
immigrants, have been forgotten. That is
why it is important that this group is well
represented in parliament and their voices
are heard. In the socialist party we have many
great people that know their experiences and
want to represent them so their community
will be seen and heard.