Pirate Party (Iceland)

Pirate Party
Píratar
Founder
Founded 24 November 2012
Headquarters Sigtúni 59 kjallari, 105 Reykjavík
Membership  (2015) 1,443 [1]
Ideology
European affiliation European Pirate Party
Colours          
Purple and Black
Seats in the Althing
3 / 63
Election symbol
Þ
Website
piratar.is

The Pirate Party (Icelandic: Píratar) is a political party in Iceland. The party's platform is based on pirate politics and direct democracy.[2]

History

The party was cofounded on 24 November 2012 by Birgitta Jónsdóttir (previously a member of the Movement), and several prominent Internet activists, including Smári McCarthy.[2][3][4] The party successfully applied for the ballot list letter Þ in order to run in the 2013 parliamentary election. This marks their first electoral participation as well as the first party to request the letter Þ. The party managed to win three seats in the 2013 election and became the first pirate party in the world to enter a national parliament.

In the 2013 parliamentary election, the Pirate Party won 5.1% of the votes, just above the 5% threshold required to win representation in the Althing, winning 3 seats.[2] The three members elected, Birgitta Jónsdóttir, Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson and Jón Þór Ólafsson, were the first pirates elected to any national legislature in the world.[5][6]

Following the Charlie Hebdo shooting on 7 January 2015, the Pirate Party began a campaign to repeal Iceland's blasphemy laws. The laws, which had been introduced in 1940, were successfully repealed in early July 2015. The repeal, introduced by the Pirate Party, read: "Freedom of expression is one of the cornerstones of democracy. It is fundamental to a free society that people should be able to express themselves without fear of punishment, whether from the authorities or from other people."[7] During the vote on the repeal, the three Pirate Party members of the Althing stood and declared "Je suis Charlie", in solidarity with the French satirical magazine.[8]

Since 30 April 2015 the party has consistently topped polling for the next Icelandic parliamentary election in 2017, with support roughly equal to the Independence Party and the Progressive Party combined, who are currently partners in a coalition government.[9][10][11]

An MMR opinion poll published in January 2016 put their public support at 37.8%, significantly above that of all other Icelandic political parties.[12] Since April 2015, they have consistently polled above 30%, with no other party reaching that level.

In April 2016 public protests about the Prime Minister's role in the Panama Papers brought out a significant percentage of the whole population, and may have been among "the largest demonstrations of any kind, in any country, ever (proportionately speaking)". In the wake of the Panama Papers scandal, polls in April 2016 showed the Pirate Party at 43% and the Independence Party at 21.6%.[13]

Recent issue stances

European Union

The party has not officially taken a position in favour of or against Iceland's accession to the European Union. The party has however concluded the following in a party policy on the European Union:[14]

Edward Snowden

Main article: Edward Snowden
Further information: Global surveillance disclosure

On 4 July 2013, a bill was introduced in parliament that would, if passed, immediately grant Edward Snowden Icelandic citizenship. The proposer of the bill was Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson (Pirate Party) and it was co-sponsored by the other Pirate Party parliament members, Ögmundur Jónasson (Left-Green Movement), Páll Valur Björnsson (Bright Future) and Helgi Hjörvar (Social Democratic Alliance).[16][17][18][19] A vote was taken to determine whether the bill would be put on parliament's agenda but it did not receive enough support.

Electoral results

Parliament

The elected representatives are Birgitta Jónsdóttir (Southwest), Ásta Helgadóttir (Reykjavik South) and Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson (Reykjavik North). Ásta Helgadóttir replaced Jón Þór Ólafsson part way through his term.

Election # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Position Government
2013 Steady 9,647 Steady 5.10
3 / 63
 Steady 3 Steady 6th Opposition

Municipalities

Hafnarfjordur Town

Election # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Position Council
2014 Steady 754 Steady 6.70
0 / 11
 Steady 0 Steady 5th Outside

Kopavogur Town

Election # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Position Council
2014 Steady 554 Steady 4.04
0 / 11
 Steady 0 Steady 6th Outside

Reykjanes Town

Election # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Position Council
2014 Steady 173 Steady 2.48
0 / 11
 Steady 0 Steady 6th Outside

Reykjavik City

The elected representative is Halldór Auðar Svansson.

Election # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Position Council
2014 Steady 3,238 Steady 5.93
1 / 15
 Steady 1 Steady 6th Coalition

References

  1. ↑ Samúel Karl Ólason (10 April 2015). "Píratar hafa ekki undan fjölda nýskráninga". visir.is. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Tom Lansford, ed. (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. SAGE Publications. p. 2684. ISBN 978-1-4833-7155-9.
  3. ↑ Andrew Reitemeyer (25 November 2012). "Iceland has a Pirate Party". Reykjavik, Iceland: Pirate Times. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  4. ↑ "Píratar halda stofnfund" [Pirate Party holds an establishment meeting] (in Icelandic). Reykjavik, Iceland: Árvakur hf. 24 November 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  5. ↑ Steadman, Ian (29 April 2013). "Iceland's Pirate Party scrapes in at national elections". Wired UK. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  6. ↑ Eirikur Bergmann (2014). Iceland and the International Financial Crisis: Boom, Bust and Recovery. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-137-33200-4.
  7. ↑ Rawlinson, Kevin (3 July 2015). "Iceland repeals blasphemy ban after Pirate party campaign". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Neuman, Scott (3 July 2015). "Iceland's Pirate Party Wins Repeal Of Blasphemy Law". National Public Radio. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Ward, Alexander (3 May 2015). "Pirate Party surges in polls to become biggest political party in Iceland". The Independent. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  10. ↑ Roberts, Zoe (4 August 2015). "Pirates Largest Party Fourth Month in Row". Iceland Review. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  11. ↑ Van der Sar, Ernesto (23 October 2015). "Pirate Party Beats Iceland's Government Coalition in the Polls". TorrentFreak. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Iceland's Pirate Party takes big lead in polls ahead of election next year". The Independent. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Björnsson, Anna Margrét (6 April 2016). "Almost half of Icelandic nation now want the Pirate Party". Iceland Monitor. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  14. ↑ "Evrópusambandið" (in Icelandic). Pirate Party Iceland. 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013. Það er ekki hlutverk stjórnmálaflokka að taka afstöðu með eða á móti aðild en aftur á móti eiga þeir að vera undirbúnir undir hvora niðurstöðuna sem er.
  15. ↑ "The Court of Justice declares the Data Retention Directive to be invalid" (PDF) (Press release). Luxembourg: Court of Justice of the European Union. 8 April 2014.
  16. ↑ Boði Logason (4 July 2013). "Snowden-frumvarp lagt fram á Alþingi" [Snowden-bill introduced in Althing] (in Icelandic). Reykjavik, Iceland: 365. Retrieved 4 July 2013. Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, Birgitta Jónsdóttir og Jón Þór Ólafsson þingmenn Pírata, Ögmundur Jónasson þingmaður Vinstri grænna, Páll Valur Björnsson þingmaður Bjartrar framtíðar og Helgi Hjörvar þingmaður Samfylkingarinnar hafa lagt fram frumvarp á Alþingi um að bandaríska uppljóstraranum Edward Snowden verði tafarlaust veittur íslenskur ríkisborgararéttur.
  17. ↑ "Vilja gera Snowden að íslenskum ríkisborgara" [Want to make Snowden an Icelandic citizen] (in Icelandic). Reykjavik, Iceland: Árvakur hf. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013. Fyrsti flutningsmaður er Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, þingmaður Pírata, en meðflutningsmenn eru samflokksmenn hans Birgitta Jónsdóttir og Jón Þór Ólafsson ásamt Ögmundi Jónassyni, þingmanni Vinstrihreyfingarinnar - græns framboðs, Helga Hjörvar, þingmanni Samfylkingarinnar, og Páli Val Björnssyni, þingmann Bjartrar framtíðar.
  18. ↑ "Fær mögulega ríkisborgararétt" [Receives possibly Icelandic citizenship] (in Icelandic). Reykjavik, Iceland: DV ehf. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013. Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, Birgitta Jónsdóttir, Jón Þór Ólafsson, Ögmundur Jónasson, Páll Valur Björnsson og Helgi Hjörvar eru flutningsmenn frumvarpsins. Allir þingmenn Pírata eru flutningsmenn frumvarpsins enda eðlilegt í ljósi þess að samtökin Wikileaks hafa aðstoðað Snowden frá því að hann kom fram.
  19. ↑ "Snowden-frumvarp lagt fram á þingi" [Snowden-bill introduced in parliament] (in Icelandic). Kopavogur, Iceland: Eyjan Media ehf. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013. Að frumvarpinu standa Píratarnir Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, Birgitta Jónsdóttir og Jón Þór Ólafsson, Ögmundur Jónasson, VG, Páll Valur Björnsson, Bjartri Framtíð og Helgi Hjörvar, Samfylkingunni.

External links

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