Icelandic Píratar On Final Approach To Election Victory

A new poll today places the Icelandic Pirate Party in parliament, with their election three weeks out. This follows a continuous and rapid ascent for the Icelandic Pirate Party. The poll will probably have the additional effect of putting the media spotlights on the party, further accelerating its growth.

The poll gives the Icelandic Píratar 5.6% of the votes, translating to four seats in the Icelandic Parliament. This growth is nothing short of phenomenal, even within the Pirate Party movement, and it would seem that the Icelandic pirates will be the first to put people in a regular, proportional, national-level parliament. (Sweden was first with the European Parliament, Germany was first with state-level parliament, and the Czech pirates were first with a senator.)

I predict that this will have the exact same effect as happened when the Swedish Pirate Party was first polling at parliamentary levels a month ahead of the European elections in 2009, and when the Berlin Pirate Party was first polling at parliamentary levels ahead of the Berlin state elections in 2011. Tons of media spotlights turn to focus on the newcomer darling, at which point support surges further. The Icelandic elections are on April 27.

Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s a done deal. Success is possible and even probable if all activists keep working like crazy between now and the election, and no monumental screw-up takes place. It’s only with sustained activism between now and the election that success looks probable.

The Icelandic Pirate Party is led by Birgitta Jónsdóttir, who is known for her work with WikiLeaks and the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative. She is currently serving as Member of Parliament in Iceland (elected for The Movement in 2009).

Also, remember that the Croatian Pirates are polling at 6.4% and may get a seat in the European Parliament in their April 14 elections! They are requesting last-minute donations (and other forms of assistance) to succeed with the last push and become the second country with pirates in the European Parliament, which would be another important milestone for the movement.

(Article image by Pirate Party Bosnia/Herzegovina.)

Rick Falkvinge

Rick is the founder of the first Pirate Party and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. He lives on Alexanderplatz in Berlin, Germany, roasts his own coffee, and as of right now (2019-2020) is taking a little break.

Discussion

  1. […] Someone said: “A new poll today places the Icelandic Pirate Party in parliament, with their election three weeks out. This follows a continuous and rapid ascent for the Icelandic Pirate Party.” …http://falkvinge.net/2013/04/05/icelandic-piratar-on-final-approach-to-election-victory/ […]

  2. Anonymous

    there has already been a lot of work done to get The Pirate Party to where it is atm, but there is still a hell of a lot to do to get to where we perhaps think it should be. the problem i foresee is that the established parties are not going to take this rise of another party lying down. i can see there being all sorts of ‘back room deals’ being done between parties and a lot of lobbying done by certain industries to try to keep TPP held back as much as possible. the biggest influence i think will come from the USA. i know it’s nothing to do with the EU as such, but it keeps ‘encouraging’ politicians and governments to do what it wants via ‘Trade Agreements’ that are nothing other than ways for the USA to get the upper hand in almost all areas, under all conditions and get the biggest benefit whilst giving virtually nothing in return. even the countries that agree to help the USA, end up with nothing, screwing their own citizens in favour of the USA and it’s industries. before there can be any type of resistance against it, TPP has to get a lot more seats so as to combat what the USA is trying to do and that wont be for a long while yet! in the mean time, TPP can only keep plugging away but to get taken any notice of, it needs to convince other party members of what is going on and what is at stake if no resistance is put up against the USA!

  3. @SameDoKan

    This poll result, while undoubtedly positive for our brethren of Píratar, is a complete disgrace for Iceland. It is a game over scenario where those that were responsible for the banking crash in Iceland get back an almost, if not complete, absolute majority.

    And internationally… we are falling apart, leaving resourceful individuals without a clue as to what to do to save the situation.

  4. @SameDoKan

    Oops! I should have read the Google translation of the article before having a quick look at the poll graphic and taking the wrong column for the Independence Party 🙁 .

    They are obviously reaping what they sowed by not approving the new Constitution before parliament was dissolved for elections.

    This poll almost reads as a new referendum 🙂 .

    While the results are good for anyone but the Independence Party, the many little new parties are not able to capture most of the change, even if Píratar does very good among them.

    With a few right arguments, it should be possible to capture much more.

    Antonio.

  5. […] Fuente Rick Falkvinge […]

  6. TTime

    Abby Martin’s Interview with Icelandic MP, Birgitta Jonsdottir

    For those of you who never heard of Abby Martin – check her out!

    You can find tons of explosive information at her website, that I kept an eye on for years ,Media Roots. She also nowadays work for RT. Two examples of powerful reports you wont find the likes of in the MSM:

    Anthrax Attacks, Inside Job

    Israel’s War on Truth

    She has recieved multiple threats for trying to work as an investigating journalist instead of just another parrot for the establishment.

  7. Blubb

    In order to make a donation to the Kroatian pirate party, it isn’t enough to know the IBAN, BIC and name of the holder of the account, you also need the address to the holder of the account. After some search, I found it to be “Osjecka 74A, 51000 Rijeka, Kroatia”. Don’t forget that the IBAN number is for a belgian bank though.
    IBAN: BE53734036621953
    BIC: KREDBEBB
    Name: Masa Utkovic
    Address: Osjecka 74A, 51000 Rijeka, Kroatia

    1. Henry Rouhivuori

      My bank need the address to the bank in BIC not the address to the holder of the account:

      IBAN: BE53734036621953
      BIC: KREDBEBB
      Kbc Bank Nv
      Brussels

  8. […] a happy coincidence, a new Pirate Party has been formed in Iceland, and is already doing quite well given its recent form…, as Rick Falkvinge […]

  9. Bjorn Thor Johannesson

    Lates poll shows 7.8% http://mmr.is/fylgi-flokka-og-rikisstjornar 09.04.2013

  10. Henry Rouhivuori

    This is getting really exciting. Píratar can be third or even second largest if you look at the graphs:

    http://mmr.is/fylgi-flokka-og-rikisstjornar

    17 days to election day…

  11. Datavetaren

    @Falkvinge: Fantastic news indeed! Any chance that Iceland will be the first nation to adopt Bitcoin as its national currency? It would bring Iceland an early adopter with an incredible head start. Interesting chicken race game, isn’t it? The first country that enters Bitcoin would make it very unlikely that it will get outlawed and at the same time getting a fantastic head start. If I would be living in Iceland I’d vote for that.

  12. Negromant

    “Also, remember that the Croatian Pirates are polling at 6.4% and may get a seat in the European Parliament in their April 14 elections! ”

    That sounds unrealistic. Croatian Pirates will probably get less than 1%, my guestimate would be 0.25%.

  13. Negromant

    Croatian Pirates got 1.13%.

    Click on Piratska stranka – PS.

    http://www.izbori.hr/2013EUParlament/rezult/r_00_0000_000.html?t=1365983271951

  14. Christoffer

    1,13% is still pretty good for the croatian pirates, who I assume are runing a fairly young party.

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