The Icelandic Pirates
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It managed to win three of the 63 seats in Iceland’s parliament, the Alþingi, at the last election in April 2013 – and is now polling at 37.8 per cent, a huge figure for the country’s fragmented political scene.
According to polling company MMR, it increases the party's lead on both current coalition parties, Independence and Progressive, which command just over 30 per cent combined.
The party is so radical that it does not even nominally have a leader, though former Wikileaks spokeswoman and now founding MP Birgitta Jonsdottir tends to speak for it in public. she told the Australian Financial Review: “I don't think there's any one explanation for our popularity. People are obviously tired of being promised the world ahead of elections, only to see political parties negotiate among themselves and back away from their promises.”
The Pirate Party is also realistic that its huge popularity in the polls may not equate to trust from voters when it comes to the next parliamentary election in 2017. “That’s too optimistic,” Birgitta told AFR. “But our support has forced other parties to take a closer look at themselves.”
What is interesting about these developments in Spain and Italy as well as it seems Iceland is thast dissatisfaction with the way the "old gang" of politicians (for not being able to live up to their promises) is not taking the form of blaming political democracy and going for dictatorship or that of anarchist anti-electoralism, but of using the electoral system. A confirmation that, when the movement to replace capitalism with socialism takes off, it too will express itself electorally. Of course neither the Pirate Party, nor Podemos nor the Five Star Movement will be able to manage things any better since it's capitalism, not the politicians who run its government, that's to blame.
I think her observation about increasing scepticim about political promises may well be an approach we can apply to our up-coming election campaigns. We usually have a leaflet or two, or a paragraph or two, emphasising that we don't make promises to fix things but what about issuing a more extensive Anti-Manifesto, one devoted to what we aren't going to do.Danny was picked up on this by the BBC and without going back to th video, i think Howard too. It was treated by trained TV commentators as a little bit outlandish for a political party cntesting an election.When we participate in election campaigns we should seek out a coordinated publicity strategy and we should build upon our past Do-It-Yourself politics. Short pithy election statements have been tried so maybe if we issue a longer glossy Anti-Leadership/PartyPromises Manifesto it might be the way to go and since our participation is limited, such a broader campaign can be used effectively in all the places where we are not standing. One Edinburgh member's contributions in the Guardian comments has often been …'Get off your knees'…'Stop being sheep'…"Don't follow leaders"…not so much expressed as an appeal but much more as a demand for action…i suggest that sort of 'aggressive' attitude is the one we should take more…The May Elections, may well offer an opportunity to try it out and we have little to lose. Too often, i think we try to be seen as reasonable and our literature is too nicey-nicey…There are lot of our members well versed in vitriol, sarcasm and satire …let them off the leash…
alanjjohnstone wrote:I think her observation about increasing scepticim about political promises may well be an approach we can apply to our up-coming election campaigns. We usually have a leaflet or two, or a paragraph or two, emphasising that we don't make promises to fix things but what about issuing a more extensive Anti-Manifesto, one devoted to what we aren't going to do.Danny was picked up on this by the BBC and without going back to th video, i think Howard too. It was treated by trained TV commentators as a little bit outlandish for a political party cntesting an election.When we participate in election campaigns we should seek out a coordinated publicity strategy and we should build upon our past Do-It-Yourself politics. Short pithy election statements have been tried so maybe if we issue a longer glossy Anti-Leadership/PartyPromises Manifesto it might be the way to go and since our participation is limited, such a broader campaign can be used effectively in all the places where we are not standing.Well we issued our first manifesto over 110 years ago now and have been issuing election addresses since. I know at least five or six SPGB election addresses are online. What the Pirate Party (at least in the UK) managed to do first, was to open source their policies and crowdsource their 2015 manifesto. No other party is open enough to have done this, and the PPUK deserve credit. Even the Green Party (England and Wales) which 'unlike all the other parties, is wholly democratic' with a 'uniquely democratic policy-making process' and didn't have a leader until 2007, only have the membership write their manifesto.
Actually, the Pirate Party stood against us in Vauxhall in last year's general election but their manifesto wasn't all that different from the other parties — local candidate, sending his kids to the local school, would judge what reforms to propose or support by consulting people by email or whatever. Didn't get the response they seem to be getting in Iceland. They got 201 votes to our 82. So we're both non-league clubs at the moment. But then they're not the answer in Iceland either even if they've got promotion to the First Division there.
Iceland's Pirate Party is no flash in the pan, it seemshttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/icelands-pirate-party-secures-more-election-funding-than-all-its-rivals-as-it-continues-to-top-polls-a7027606.htmlThe Pirate Party were polling at up to 43% and calls for a 35-hour working week, direct democracy and total drug decriminalisation, has the lead in eight out of the last ten polls. They look set to form a crucial part of a coalition government in this autumn's general election.
Quote:The Pirates do not have a formal leader, but poet and activist Birgitta Jónsdóttir MP is the chair of the Pirate parliamentary group and their de facto spokesperson.She said: “We did not expect this. We don’t care. Democracy doesn’t revolve around getting loads of money from the government. We funded our campaign at a flea market before the last elections and that was fine. We feel we need to be able to pay the salary of our employees. Anything more than that is too much."One to watch for those who have elections as their focus.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/12/polls-suggests-icelands-pirate-party-form-next-government"…Even if they don’t have clear policies in many areas, people are genuinely drawn to their principles of transforming democracy and improving transparency.”“It’s gradually dawning on us, what’s happening,” Birgitta Jónsdóttir, leader of the Pirates’ parliamentary group, told the Guardian. “It’s strange and very exciting. But we are well prepared now. This is about change driven not by fear but by courage and hope. We are popular, not populist.” [The Guardian, as expected, cannot cope with a political party that rebuffs the idea of a leader. She is a main spokesperson. The Pirates have a rotating chairperson position]
Even that around 14 millions workers endorsed Bernie Sanders they did not understand that the problems are not the politicians, the presidents,senators, or government officials, or the political parties, the problem is the capitalist system, or the system of profits. The can created a so called third party and the same problems will continue, in any way the third party needed has already existed for several decades
Still under the radar of most political commentators but the Pirate Party in Iceland are on track to win the general election and become the government.
Quote:People want real changes and they understand that we have to change the systems, we have to modernise how we make laws,”10 seats up from 3 in a voter turn-out of 79%. The Left-Green Party won 10 seats. The Left-Greens, the Pirates and two allies — now have 27 seats, short of the 32 required to command a majority in Iceland’s Parliament, the world’s oldest. 63 MPs for 300k citizensWe, with a population of 60 million people, have 646 MPs; Germany, with a population of 82 million, has 600; Japan, with a population of 127 million – twice the size of ours – has only 470; Russia, with 144 million, has 450; and America, with 293 million, has 430 Congressmen.
I thought you said that they were on track to win ! Clearly, opinion polling in Iceland is at an earlier stage. I see that the actual winners were a party that seems to be the equivalent if the europhobic wing of the Tory party:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/30/iceland-elections-ruling-centre-right-party-pirate-partyAnyway, a Pirate Party government might have introduced more "transparency" into government decision-making, but it would still be a government of capitalism — transparently.
They were polling at 30% one time but then they suffered from fear factor …the right began to say investors would be scared away and there would be capital flight.But still a good showing by them…and they took defeat well so not too much disillusionment and despair it seems from being beat.We will see if they can last the pace of parliamentary politics until the next election. I don't think the demand for a new constitution has gone away. They will be focusing on that now. How it developed from randomly selected focus-groups and being crowd-sourced gives us an inkling on how socialism will involve participatory e-democracy in its decision-making. No doubt ex-Cde. Coleman will find it under his remit and will be studying its application.As the oldest parliament it is also trying to exercise the newest means of political power…credit where credit is due.
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