Iceland review - 2015, Page 60

58 ICELAND REVIEW
POLITICS
“Initially we appealed to young people, people who tradition-
ally don’t show up to vote but this has changed a bit,” she says.
“This left-right ideology from the Cold War is outdated. There
have been a lot of changes in society since then. We’re a new kind
of politics.” A Gallup poll published in mid-May indicated that
the Pirates have been clinching a large number of voters from
other parties, including the Progressive Party, Independence
Party and the Social Democrats. The party has experienced a
surge in new members since the March 19 poll put the Pirates as
the largest party in Iceland. “We’re wary of the fact that we have
a lot of fair-weather friends,” Birgitta remarks.
BREWING DISCONTENT
In order for people to be able to define their own future, Birgitta
says the foundations of politics first need to be fixed. “Voting is at
a record low—not just in Iceland. We want to inspire people to
take part. Most power today is outsourced to ministries—people
who were never actually elected: the unknown bureaucrat.” With
a rotating leadership system the party supports the decentrali-
zation of power. While she publicly shies away from authority,
Birgitta says she understands the need to have leaders. “I’m
sympathetic towards people’s need to have leaders and mentors
but we don’t embrace power—in fact we mock it. As soon as you
have it and you’re comfortable, you’ve lost your way. The party
should then be dissolved. Parties should be vehicles for change.”
This is in stark contrast to the current government, she argues.
“They’re full of hubris. It’s really sad, there’s no consultation with
the public.”
The latest action by the government to anger Birgitta was the
announcement in March via a letter to the European Union that
Iceland no longer wished to be considered an EU applicant state.
The letter caused uproar in Iceland, sparking protests because
the decision contradicted the government’s election promise not
to withdraw Iceland from talks before a national referendum on
the issue is held. “I think this made people really upset,” Birgitta
comments. “Bypassing the parliament like that is very serious.”
As far as the Pirate Party is concerned, other major issues of
contention include the government’s failure to push through
constitutional reform. Following the financial collapse, an elected
constitutional council drafted a new constitution that has since
been shelved. “We need a new constitution which allows us to
go to a referendum without the president’s approval. As it is now,
he can refuse to sign a bill. It’s unnatural. It’s like he’s the king
of Iceland,” Birgitta says, adding other points of dissatisfaction:
“The government promised to increase pensions and it’s just not
happening. The government promised to bring forward a hous-
ing policy. Housing is at a crisis point.”
The government’s debt cancellation plan, the Progressive
Party’s key election promise, of which the Pirates and other oppo-
sition parties have been highly critical, is also a major source of
discontent, Birgitta expresses. The plan aims to correct indexed
mortgages for the effects of inflation in 2008 and 2009. Birgitta
has highlighted the fact that the government’s original proposal
was that the money would come from the creditors of the col-
lapsed banks, including foreign hedge funds, but that they instead
originate from public funds. She also says that the assistance is
too little. “People had really high expectations. They thought
they were going to win the lottery. The reality is that they get a
few thousand krónur off their mortgages each month,” Birgitta
says matter-of-factly.
GROWING INEQUALITY
Ongoing and planned strikes in Iceland by tens of thousands of
workers demanding higher pay threaten to paralyze the country’s
economy. The government has failed to come up with a plan to
deal with the strikes, Birgitta says. “We could potentially see up
to 100,000 people [of 176,000 in the workforce] on strike. It’s
not just about setting a minimum wage in Iceland—it’s a fight
for equality. The gap between rich and poor is growing. This
government is just a government for the rich.”
While Birgitta has plenty of complaints, she admits that people
also have unrealistic expectations of politicians. “We’re not mir-
acle makers,” she warns. She also knows that the party benefits
from never having been in government, having no direct ties to
other parties and being one of only two parties (the other being
Bright Future) which did not exist at the time of the economic
collapse.
Associate professor in politics at the University of Iceland
Stefanía Óskarsdóttir agrees. In her opinion, the Pirate Party
is popular for its emphasis on direct democracy and for being
considered in-touch with the public while the ruling Progressive
Party and Independence Party are seen as not living up to their
election promises and the Left-Greens and Social Democrats
have not recovered after running an unpopular government
immediately following the collapse. However, Stefanía warns
that polls can be fickle. “History shows that even if small or new
parties are polling really well, when the election comes most
people still vote for their old party. People often use polls to send
a message to the authorities,” she says. Prior to the last election,
Bright Future, for example, polled at up to around 20 percent
but they only received 8.2 percent of the vote in the election, she
points out. “There are possibly more swinging voters now but we
don’t really know. However, probably the only example of a new
party going on to win an election in Iceland is [Jón Gnarr’s] Best
Party in Reykjavík.”
LOBBYING FOR CHANGE
According to an MMR poll in March, 32 percent of respondents
believe Birgitta to be in-touch with the public while five percent