Initial counting after polls closed in Iceland’s election put neither the ruling Independence party’s centre-right coalition nor the Pirate party’s leftist alliance in a position to secure outright victory. With roughly one-third of votes counted, support for the mainstream centre-right coalition – particularly Independence – stood at more than 40%, translating to 27 MPs in Iceland’s 63-seat parliament. The opposition alliance had around 43%, giving 29 MPs. That could leave the newly-established Viðreisn – meaning Regeneration – party in the role of kingmaker. Its share of the vote sat at around 11% in early counting. Its liberal, pro-European stance has proved popular among conservative voters seeking a change from the old parties. “We want to improve things in Iceland,” the party leader, Benedikt Johannesson, said as he cast his ballot. “We are a free trade party, a pro-western party, an open society party.” Polls published on Friday before the election showed the governing coalition of the Independence and Progressive parties on about 37% of the vote, while support for opposition parties led by the Pirates – founded barely four years ago by a group of activists, anarchists and former hackers – stood at 47%.
Riding a wave of public anger at perceived political corruption in the wake of the 2008 financial crash and the Panama Papers scandal in April, the Pirate party has campaigned for direct democracy, full government transparency, individual freedoms and the fight against corruption. Its radical platform – which also includes decriminalising drugs, offering asylum to whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden and relaxing restrictions on the use of the bitcoin virtual currency – propelled it to 40% in the polls this spring but its support has since waned.
Voting at a Reykjavik school on a chill, blustery day, the party’s figurehead, 49-year-old MP, poet and former WikiLeaks collaborator Birgitta Jónsdóttir, said that if the people were ready the Pirates were too.
Her party would deliver change “if people are sick of living in this turmoil that we have been having here in Iceland, where you never know what tomorrow is going to bring”.
“Change is beautiful. There’s nothing to worry about. We are ready to do whatever people trust us to do.”
Full Article: Iceland election: tight race to form government as counting begins | World news | The Guardian.
