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Iceland's Pirate Party Dominates Opinion Polls Once Again

© Flickr / jamie_okeefePirate Party flag
Pirate Party flag - Sputnik International
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A party founded by Internet activists is topping opinion polls in Iceland. The Pirate Party, founded in 2012, has won 63 parliamentary seats, making it the most popular political group in the country.

The Pirate Party is now dominating opinion polls by almost 40 percent, according to polling company MMR.

Birgitta Jonsdottir, former WikiLeaks spokesperson, now working for the party, 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."

A survey carried out by Iceland's largest newspaper, Frettablaoio suggested that people in Iceland were becoming more interested in civil rights, privacy issues and freedom of information. The party's policy on the European Union is that Iceland should never become a member without a referendum first.

Offering one explanation for the surge in support for the party, Birgitta Jonsdottir cited a decision by Iceland's foreign minister not to restart negotiations on the country's accession to the European Union in March 2015.

"It was directly linked with the foreign minister bypassing the parliament in this action," Jonsdottir told The Speaker.

Iceland Pirate Party - Sputnik International
Disillusionment Fuels Pirate Party Popularity in Europe
The government had promised to hold a national referendum asking Icelanders if they wanted to continue with negotiations surrounding Iceland's accession to the EU. A promise they then broke.

Pirate parties, which have been formed in countries across the world stand for civil rights, direct democracy, open content, information privacy, transparency, freedom of information and anti-corruption. 

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