REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — The radical Pirate Party made gains but not a breakthrough in Iceland’s election, as returns Sunday showed that voters favored the incumbent center-right Independence Party over the upstart advocates of direct democracy and digital freedom. Johannsson made the announcement on national television, promising to leave his post after his center-right party received only eight seats against last year’s 19 in the 63-seat parliament following Saturday’s snap election. Saturday’s vote is likely to produce either a centre-right coalition involving the Independence and Progressive parties that have governed since 2013, or a left-of-centre coalition involving the Pirates, the Left Green Movement and others. The Pirates, founded four years ago by a group of activists, anarchists and former hackers, tripled their share of the vote to 14.5%, and together with an alliance of three left-of-centre parties won a total of 27 seats – five short of a majority in the country’s 63-seat parliament. Pirate lawmaker Birgitta Jonsdottir said the early results were in line with the party’s own prediction of between 12 and 15 per cent up from the 5 per cent it secured in 2013. “Sometimes it’s a case of what’s doing what is right versus what is easy.”

The backlash against their bankers knows no bounds. “We are gaining new seats in parliament, so we are very happy.”



'Trust can be restored': Icelanders on their parliamentary election Read more

The final shape of the government is far from clear, with multiple permutations possible, much horse-trading ahead and disagreement even on which party should be the first to attempt to form a new government. “We have managed to catch and capture the spirit of change with so many young people in Iceland,” said Jonsdottir, who describes herself as a “poetician.”

“We are very much about modernizing our system, so that people don’t fall through the cracks all the time.”

Support for the movement surged to 43% in an April poll after the Panama Papers revealed that former Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson held secret investments in offshore accounts — which led to some of the largest protests the country has ever seen. The number of seats for the Independence Party has grown since the last elections, when it received 19 seats. In a campaign whose early stages were dominated by public anger at Iceland’s traditional elites and a strong desire for political change, the Independence party promised to lower taxes and keep Iceland’s economic recovery on track. “We’re just amazed that we’ll possibly maybe triple our following from last time, and it’s only three years.”

The Pirates campaigned on promises to introduce direct democracy, subject the workings of government to more scrutiny and place the country’s natural resources under public ownership

The party also seeks tough rules to protect individuals from online intrusion. Jonsdottir, the Pirates’ most prominent voice, is a former ally of WikiLeaks who has called on Iceland to offer citizenship to U.S. National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.
Iceland’s incumbent, centre-right Independence Party surprised pollsters by winning 29 percent of the vote (21 seats), thereby putting leader Bjarni Benediktsson in position to organize another coalition government. The Progressive Party, the current ruling partner, garnered 11.5% and eight positions, a loss of 11 seats. The new Pirate Party didn't perform as predicted with 14.5% of the ballots, though it did get 10 seats, an increase of seven more positions in the 63-seat parliament (Althing).