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Post by Merseymike on Aug 9, 2021 19:41:02 GMT
Indeed - but then hot water and central heating is essentially free so I'm sure as long as you use lots of shower gel it's something I could live with! Did you try a lamb hot dog? Sadly not. But the standard hot dogs are pretty good. Their standard ones are made of lamb! |
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Post by Devil Wincarnate on Aug 9, 2021 20:02:23 GMT
Sadly not. But the standard hot dogs are pretty good. Their standard ones are made of lamb! Not sure how I missed those then. The ones I had were more like the standard ones you get elsewhere in Scandinavia. The only palatable food in Norway! |
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Post by Merseymike on Aug 9, 2021 22:50:50 GMT
Their standard ones are made of lamb! Not sure how I missed those then. The ones I had were more like the standard ones you get elsewhere in Scandinavia. The only palatable food in Norway! They sell them at garages, mostly.... Norwegian food is a study in blandness. Everything comes with plain boiled potatoes. |
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nelson
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Post by nelson on Aug 10, 2021 9:24:47 GMT
Birgitta Jónsdóttir is running for the Socialists (in Reykjavík North, which includes the inner city), although only at a symbolic spot as number 18 on the list.
The most notable name on their Reykjavík lists is Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir, the leader of Iceland's second largest trade union Efling (which organizes a broad range of mostly unskilled and low wage workers).
I'm still a bit baffled that a party founded and led by such an obvious charlatan as Gunnar Smári Egilsson has been able to attract support from serious left wingers in the trade union movement, but they seemingly see it as as a useful vehicle and probably hope to be able to oust him later on if they actually make it into parliament.
It'll be interesting too see how many trade unionists will be on their lists in the three "rural" constituencies, a lot fewer "arty & activist" types out in the sticks so they could make up a sizable share - or they could be dominated by lefty school teachers and local journalists plus a couple of lecturers at the small provincial colleges. If a lot of trade unionists get in it increases the chance of a post-election split with the trade unionists agreeing to a confidence and supply deal with a centre-left government (though not if it includes Reform, which is more or less the political wing of the Chamber of Commerce).
Gunnar Smári tops their list in Reykjavík North, where they'll likely get a constituency seat even if they don't pass the national threshold. Other well-known names include their sole councillor (elected in Reykjavík ofc) and "black rights" activist Sanna Magdalena Mörtudóttir, author Oddný Eir Ævarsdóttir, film director María Kristjánsdóttir, business scholar and journalist Katrín Baldursdóttir (who tops their list in Reykjavík South), Druslugangan (the Icelandic version of SlutWalk) founder María Lilja Þrastardóttir Kemp, artist Ellen Kristjánsdóttir and ex-Dawn politician Ása Lind Finnbogadóttir. But those are all "arty & activist" progressive types (their Reykjavík lists are filled with painters, musicians and writers), which is unsurprising.
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nelson
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Post by nelson on Aug 10, 2021 14:54:00 GMT
The most notable name on their Reykjavík lists is Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir, the leader of Iceland's second largest trade union Efling (which organizes a broad range of mostly unskilled and low wage workers). She's in 4th, so would have a real chance to get in if they get two seats in the constituency. List votes are allocated to twice as many candidates as elected starting from the top (with a minimum of three). Some background: icelandmag.is/article/landslide-victory-socialist-labor-organizer-become-leader-icelands-second-largest-unionSince the article was posted the leftist unions did take over and Drífa Snædal (48) became the new leader of the Icelandic Confederation of Labor in 2018, as the first woman, replacing the SocDem mentioned in the article. She was the executive director of the Left Greens (2006-10), but left the party in 2017 in protest about them going into government with IP. I haven't heard anything about her being positive towards the Socialists. |
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Post by nelson on Aug 12, 2021 11:11:25 GMT
IP Crown Princess and Minister of Justice Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir (30) has made some thinly veiled criticism of the government's reintroduction of Corona restrictions as harming businesses. It'll be interesting to see if IP will try to "ride two horses" during the campaign, the Minister of Health is from the Left Greens and it'll be tempting for them to make LG own the most unpopular elements of the restrictions. Looks like they will... MP and former Minister of Justice Sigríður Á. Andersen: "It looks like the ministers (the Minister of Health and the PM, both from LG) have nothing else to contribute than boosting the fear and anxiety of the Icelandic people. A people doesn't need enemies with leaders like that." Not exactly subtle. |
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Post by nelson on Aug 13, 2021 15:01:56 GMT
Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is getting increasingly desperate and unhinged in his attempt to stay relevant, he now says he wants Centre go into government with the Left Greens while also doubling down on his climate skepticism, claiming the climate crisis is being "exploited by populists" and "extremist new age politicians" and that it would be best if Iceland emitted "as much carbon dioxide as possible" (since it would be a sign of economic growth).
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Post by Delighted Of Tunbridge Wells on Aug 14, 2021 3:05:55 GMT
Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is getting increasingly desperate and unhinged in his attempt to stay relevant, he now says he wants Centre go into government with the Left Greens while also doubling down on his climate skepticism, claiming the climate crisis is being "exploited by populists" and "extremist new age politicians" and that it would be best if Iceland emitted "as much carbon dioxide as possible" (since it would be a sign of economic growth). So, wait a min, he wants to go into government with an explicitly environmentalist party, while being at the far opposite end of the climate change belief spectrum? It's not April Fools already, is it?! |
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Post by nelson on Aug 14, 2021 7:58:25 GMT
Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is getting increasingly desperate and unhinged in his attempt to stay relevant, he now says he wants Centre go into government with the Left Greens while also doubling down on his climate skepticism, claiming the climate crisis is being "exploited by populists" and "extremist new age politicians" and that it would be best if Iceland emitted "as much carbon dioxide as possible" (since it would be a sign of economic growth). So, wait a min, he wants to go into government with an explicitly environmentalist party, while being at the far opposite end of the climate change belief spectrum? It's not April Fools already, is it?! Right now his strategy simply seems to be saying and doing whatever he thinks will keep him in the media, whether that includes eating raw meat or spouting nonsense. His party is polling a few points above the threshold and their vote could be squeezed by IP and PP this time as it's clear that voting for Centre will be a pure protest vote (the only party that's willing to go into government with Centre is the small populist People's Party which probably won't even make the threshold). Last time he could claim that if his party became big enough they'd have to talk to him but the grand coalition has changed that. The Centre Party's natural path into government is blocked due to the IP establishment not trusting him and his bad relationship with his old party, the Progress Party, both parties have clearly indicated they prefer a continuation of the current government over having to deal with SDG. Which means that his potential voters will have to decide whether they want to increase the chance of a protectionist centre-right government by voting IP or PP, or sticking with Centre and risk at best a continuation of the grand coalition or at worst pave the way for a government that includes liberal/pro-EU parties. So SDG needs to be able to claim that he has a chance of joining a government and claiming he can be part of the grand coalition is the most obvious way of doing that in the current situation. But he also needs to attract protest votes against COVID restrictions, wokeness and "climate hysteria" in competition with the People's Party - and as mentioned above IP is also trying to appeal to the first group despite being part of the government responsbile for the restrictions. He is clearly banking on a lot of his voters being low info, parochial and quite gullible, whether he's underestimating them remains to be seen. One factor is that his base intensely dislike the public broadcaster RÚV (considered elitist and a SocDem mouthpiece), which means that once RÚV starts pointing out the inconsistency of his message (and mocking him in one of their satire programs) he can use that to score automatic populist bonus points. It'll be interesting to see how IP will go about trying to squeeze the Centre vote, but right now they seem to prefer simply giving him enough rope to hang himself, if that doesn't work I'd expect some rather nasty social media campaigns from groups not directly linked to the party in line with those targeting LG last time and the Pirates in 2016. It should be a major priority for IP to bury SDG as his continued presence on the political stage blocks a workable centre-right government. |
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Post by nelson on Aug 17, 2021 16:58:59 GMT
Centre's current crisis started with the Klaustur scandal, where a group of Centre and People's Party MPs left the Althing during a debate and gathered at the Klaustur bar near parliament, where they got got heavily drunk and said various sexist and/or misogynistic things about female politicians and mocked disabled women (incl. People's Party founder Inga Sæland).
A disabled woman overheard the conversation and taped it and handed the recording over to the media and lines from them were later used in a theatre play, a judge later ruled that she had no right to publish a private conversation, which has led SDG to claim he and his party are the true victims of the affair.
As a consequence the two most right wing MPs were kicked out of the People's Party and joined Centre, which left party founder Inga Sæland (who is blind) and a likewise disabled MP with a background in the country's largest disability rights organization as the sole representatives of the party.
The Centre Party has tried to renew its image (as a party of "dirty old men" linked to old boys networks) by getting more women on its lists and getting rid of some of the people most tainted by the affair, in particular former Minister of Foreign Affairs and the party’s deputy leader Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson (53). Eight of the party's current nine MPs are male and their average age is 57, and the goal was that half of six lead candidates should be women.
In Reykjavík South Fjóla Hrund Björnsdóttir (33) was chosen as lead candidate by the party’s electoral committee over incumbent Þorsteinn Sæmundsson (67), his supporters then forced a membership vote where she got 58% of the vote and Þorsteinn Sæmundsson subsequently decided not to run at all.
The former People's Party MP the contrarian economist Ólafur Ísleifsson (66) “chose” to vacate the top spot in Reykjavík North (after pressure from the leadership) and was replaced by Vilborg Þóranna Kristjánsdóttir (48).
The second People's Party, the former police chief Karl Gauti Hjaltason (62) wanted to run in his native South constituency, but the electoral committee chose the incumbent Birgir Þórarinsson (56). To avoid a membership vote and the risk of alientaing People’s Party supporters Karl Gauti then got the top spot big "exurbs and suburbs" South-West constituency, but with SDG's sister Nanna Margrét Gunnlaugsdóttir (43) in second place - it's the only constituency where the party has a somewhat realistic chance of getting two seats. The previous lead candidate Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson is running on the final spot on the list, which is traditionally given as a tribute to retired party bigwigs. Una María Óskarsdóttir (59), who replaced Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson in the Althing after he had to leave the Althing following the Klaustur affair was supposed to top the list and be the third female lead candifate, but was “sacrificed” to placate the old People’s Party supporters.
In the north Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (46) continues as lead candidate in the NE and Bergþór Ólason (45) in NW (among those most tainted by the Klaustur affair).
So in the end the party only has female lead candidates in Reykjavík, where it’s unpopular and unlikely to get any seats, and only one of its lead candidates is below 45, though three are 45-49 and the average age of its leading candidates (1st and 2nd) is a bit lower than last time.
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nelson
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Post by nelson on Aug 25, 2021 8:32:45 GMT
The Gallup from the 2nd half of August shows increased fragmentation with the Socialists now above 8% and the People's Party very close to the threshold, if they were 0.1 point higher the current grand coalition wouldn't have a majority.
Socialists 8.2 (+1.5)
Centre-left: 34.7 (-3.2)
Left Greens 12.3 (-1.8)
Pirates 10.9 (-1.7)
SocDems 11.5 (+0.3)
Reform 10.6 (+1.5)
Protectionist centre-right: 40.9 (-0.7)
Independence 24.2 (-0.3)
Progress 9.7 (-0.7)
Centre 7.0 (+0.3)
People's Party 4.9 (+0.8)
Others 0.7 (+0.1)
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nelson
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Post by nelson on Sept 1, 2021 13:00:46 GMT
Reform's chairman Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir and the party's founder Benedikt Jóhannesson have agreed to bury the hatchet. As part of their compromise primaries are made mandatory for all future candidate nominations. As a consequence Benedikt will not run on a splinter list and his "debate club", which was widely seen as a prelude to a new party, has been integrated into Reform where it'll discuss how to improve the inner workings of the party and develop policy proposals. While it hasn't been made public I assume this also means Þorgerður Katrín has agreed to move the party a bit closer to the centre on economics (or at least not move it further right) and accommodate its Social Liberal wing on things like committee membership in the Althing and cabinet posts if they join a government.
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nelson
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Post by nelson on Sept 5, 2021 11:11:33 GMT
Anti-vaccine protestors have founded a new party called Responsible Future and intend to run in the election.
They say they'll support any government that promises to implement their list of demands:
1) Using the drug Ivermectin for treating Covid-19.
2) Ban vaccination of anyone below the age of 18.
3) Investigate whether the Corona restrictions have violated the Constitution or caused damages, and that all such damages shall be assessed by the courts.
4) That no new mandatory restrictions can be introduced.
5) That the public service fee to the national broadcaster RÚV is changed to a voucher model where tax payers can determine which media or cultural institutions will receive their public service voucher.
If they get any votes it'll likely harm the Centre Party and People's Party the most, since they're the most likely recipients of "the crank vote". Though they may also take a few generic protest votes from the Socialists.
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nelson
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Post by nelson on Sept 14, 2021 13:40:38 GMT
The Icelandic vaccine sceptics in Responsible Future have only gotten their Reykjavík North list approved, they did also submit one in Reykjavík South, but it didn't have enough valid signatures (though they've appealed the rejection).
Besides the eight parties in the Alting and the Socialists the only other party running in all constituencies is the former leader of the faux-environmentalist and libertarian Right Greens tax dodging businessman and hotelier Guðmundur Franklín Jónsson whose new populist project is called the Liberal Democracy Party and seems to be going nowhere.
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Post by nelson on Sept 15, 2021 16:36:13 GMT
New Gallup poll:
Government: 46.7
IP 22.0
PP 12.9
LG 11.8
"Liberal opposition": 31.9
SDA 11.0
Pirates 11.0
Reform 9.9
Populist opposition: 20.3
Socialists 7.8
Centre 7.6
People's 4.9
Dawn 0.5
Others 0.6 (probably mostly "Dodgy Franklin"'s Liberal Democracy Party, so more populists)
If it wasn't for the Pirates ultimate demand about the constitution PP/LG/SDA/Pirates would be a possibility, and the government should get a majority on those numbers given they all have above average rural support. Starting to wonder if Progress will get the PM the way things are heading (not the worst that could happen, he's a decent guy and from the left leaning "community-minded" tradition).
People's look set to get a constituency seat in the South regardless of whether they make it above the threshold, so it's either one or three for them.
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nelson
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Post by nelson on Sept 15, 2021 18:35:16 GMT
The government has loosened the Corona restrictions. The limit for participants in public events up from 200 to 500, and 1.500 with quick tests. Restaurants and bars get to open an hour longer.
Just six hospitalized with Corona now, two of them in intensive care, 363 in isolation, and 839 in quarantine. Getting better, but perhaps not fast enough to turn the populist tide.
IP crown princess and Minister of Justice Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir is still accusing her own government of dragging its feet and curtailing the citizens' "liberty" and e.g. wants to get rid of face masks.
...
Quote of the week:
"We are such a corrupt society that we must travel east of the Ural mountains or south of the Mediterranean Sea to find something similar."
Gunnar Smári Egilsson, founder of the Socialists, apparently thinking Iceland is more corrupt than places like Moldova, Kosovo, Albania, Malta and Dagestan.
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nelson
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Post by nelson on Sept 15, 2021 20:59:40 GMT
University of Iceland poll of preferred PM with a solid 2171 sample.
Katrín Jakobsdóttir (LG): 40.1%
Bjarni Benediktsson (IP): 16%
Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson (PP): 9.5%
Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Pirates): 8.6%
Logi Már Einarsson (SDA): 8.2%
Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (Centre): 6.6%
Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir (Reform): 5.8
Inga Sæland (People's): 2.1%
Gunnar Smári Egilsson (Socialists): 1.9%
Guðmundur Franklín Jónsson (Liberal Democracy): 0.2%
Notable that Bjarni Benediktsson still polls significantly lower than his party, while Katrín J. polls more than 3.5 times as high as hers. Weak numbers for "Happy Logi", an SDA leader should poll well ahead of the spokesperson of the Pirates. Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir from Reform polls surprisingly low for someone with her vast experience, lower than her party.
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nelson
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Post by nelson on Sept 19, 2021 10:44:37 GMT
The MMR poll from the 18th is decent for the left and has IP down to 20%, but I don't trust MMR so waiting for Gallup.
...
I wrote a bit in the Iceland politics thread about Iclander's view of Islam to follow up on this (and more election related) MMR has just released their annual poll of how Icelanders view refugee policy, which generally shows that the plurality that thinks Iceland should take in more refugees has increased somewhat from last year (difference in parenthesis), with the usual distribution where the pro-refugee sentiment skews young/urban/female (traditionally also in more "Christian humanist" rural areas in the north, but the poll isn't detailed enough to show that). The two most anti-refugee parties are Centre (87/7) and People's (59/3). While hardly any People's Party supporters want more refugees 38% of them are satisfied with the current number, not far below the 46% of IP and PP voters. Whereas Centre has a distribution more in line with a right wing populist party on the Continent.
The most refugee positive parties are SDA (69% for more refugees), Pirates 65%, LG 57%, Reform 57% and the Socialists 51%. The Socialists are backed by many low income earners, which is likely why they poll the lowest of the centre-left and/or liberal parties and have 27% anti-refugee voters. Pirate voters are far more "standard progressive" on this issue than they usually are. PP also lands on a net positive for taking more refugees but with a large status quo preference.
Iceland receives:
To few refugees 39 (+6)
An appropriate number 35 (nc)
Too many refugees 26 (-6)
Too many/too many
Centre 87/7
People's 59/3
IP 36/18
Socialists 27/51
PP 22/32
Reform 11/57
Pirates 8/65
SDA 5/69
LG 4/57
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nelson
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Post by nelson on Sept 20, 2021 11:45:27 GMT
The Left Greens have been endorsed by Ásmundur Stefánsson, the 76-year old former chairman of the Icelandic trade union congress Alþýðusamband Íslands, who was removed by the left wing in 2018 and replaced by Drífa Snædal, LG's former party secretary who'd left them the year before in protest about them going into government with the Independence Party. Ásmundur says SDA is "dithering" and has "no direction" and that he hopes Katrín Jakobsdottír will get enough support to continue leading the current coalition.
In a way it's logical, but being endorsed by a lifelong right wing SocDem trade union boss and establishment figure is going to make the SDA line about LG now being to their right more credible, and Ásmundur is immensely unpopular among traditional LG supporters on the trade union left, many of whom are considering voting the Socialists. So probably not an endorsement LG is particularly happy about.
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Post by nelson on Sept 20, 2021 18:52:22 GMT
PP leader Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson has proposed higher corporate taxes on companies making a profit of more than ISK 200 million a year, which predictably has gotten very harsh criticism from IP. Apart from increased private sector involvement in the healthcare sector most of PP's campaign proposals fit cooperation with the centre-left.
According to media reports the PP leadership are hoping for LG/SDA/PP/Reform sidelining IP and the Pirates, which would require Reform to ditch all of their EU and Euro dreams and accept status quo on agriculture. I suppose some kind of grand compromise on fishing securing untransferable quotas for local communities and small scale fishermen while allocating quotas for the big companies by auction (at least for some key species) might be necessary for that to become a reality. I still have a hard time seeing PP and Reform actually compromising enough to be able to sit in the same government since all of their signature issues conflict, but on the other hand all other options also look somewhat "impossible" right now, so who knows. It would obviously make perfect sense on the left-right scale (mainstream left + moderate centre-right).
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