Iceland parliamentary election

[DC Al Fine]

One element that explains part of the leftist governments decline in the polls is the media situation in Iceland.

Its largest media corporation by far is 365 Miðlar which is primarily owned by Ingibjörg Pálmadóttir, the wife of London based businessman Jon Asgeir Johannesson, the richest "financial viking" from the boom era. Its well known that Jon Asgeir has been using his influence to change stories about himself, but he has also used it against politicians he perceives as "unfriendly to investors" (read leftists) .
 
The second large private media corporation in Iceland is the one centered around Morgunbladid, which used to be the only daily in Iceland and has strong ties to IP. Its dominant shareholder is Gudbjorg Matthiasdottir, who is on the Top 5 of the richest persons in Iceland. She owns a large fishing enterprise and a lot of valuable fishing quota. Editor in chief is no other than Mr. David Oddson, ex IP prime minister (1991-2004), chairman of the board of governors of the central bank (2005-2009), and generally viewed as more responsible for the banking crash than any other politician in Iceland. All though Morgunbladid is nominally independent conservative this translates as Independence Party conservative and the paper is highly biased against the government.

Its of course not uncommon that rich right wingers own the media, but in a small country like Iceland the effect becomes stronger.

The left should have passed a Media Pluralism Act of some kind when they had the opportunity.

What would that entail?

[Antonio the Sixth]

One element that explains part of the leftist governments decline in the polls is the media situation in Iceland.

Its largest media corporation by far is 365 Miðlar which is primarily owned by Ingibjörg Pálmadóttir, the wife of London based businessman Jon Asgeir Johannesson, the richest "financial viking" from the boom era. Its well known that Jon Asgeir has been using his influence to change stories about himself, but he has also used it against politicians he perceives as "unfriendly to investors" (read leftists) .
 
The second large private media corporation in Iceland is the one centered around Morgunbladid, which used to be the only daily in Iceland and has strong ties to IP. Its dominant shareholder is Gudbjorg Matthiasdottir, who is on the Top 5 of the richest persons in Iceland. She owns a large fishing enterprise and a lot of valuable fishing quota. Editor in chief is no other than Mr. David Oddson, ex IP prime minister (1991-2004), chairman of the board of governors of the central bank (2005-2009), and generally viewed as more responsible for the banking crash than any other politician in Iceland. All though Morgunbladid is nominally independent conservative this translates as Independence Party conservative and the paper is highly biased against the government.

Its of course not uncommon that rich right wingers own the media, but in a small country like Iceland the effect becomes stronger.

The left should have passed a Media Pluralism Act of some kind when they had the opportunity.

What would that entail?

Fairness guidelines, plus if necessary splitting the biggest media corporations and forcing them to sell part of their facilities to smaller companies.

[DC Al Fine]

One element that explains part of the leftist governments decline in the polls is the media situation in Iceland.

Its largest media corporation by far is 365 Miðlar which is primarily owned by Ingibjörg Pálmadóttir, the wife of London based businessman Jon Asgeir Johannesson, the richest "financial viking" from the boom era. Its well known that Jon Asgeir has been using his influence to change stories about himself, but he has also used it against politicians he perceives as "unfriendly to investors" (read leftists) .
 
The second large private media corporation in Iceland is the one centered around Morgunbladid, which used to be the only daily in Iceland and has strong ties to IP. Its dominant shareholder is Gudbjorg Matthiasdottir, who is on the Top 5 of the richest persons in Iceland. She owns a large fishing enterprise and a lot of valuable fishing quota. Editor in chief is no other than Mr. David Oddson, ex IP prime minister (1991-2004), chairman of the board of governors of the central bank (2005-2009), and generally viewed as more responsible for the banking crash than any other politician in Iceland. All though Morgunbladid is nominally independent conservative this translates as Independence Party conservative and the paper is highly biased against the government.

Its of course not uncommon that rich right wingers own the media, but in a small country like Iceland the effect becomes stronger.

The left should have passed a Media Pluralism Act of some kind when they had the opportunity.

What would that entail?

Fairness guidelines, plus if necessary splitting the biggest media corporations and forcing them to sell part of their facilities to smaller companies.

And what of free speech?

[MaxQue]

One element that explains part of the leftist governments decline in the polls is the media situation in Iceland.

Its largest media corporation by far is 365 Miðlar which is primarily owned by Ingibjörg Pálmadóttir, the wife of London based businessman Jon Asgeir Johannesson, the richest "financial viking" from the boom era. Its well known that Jon Asgeir has been using his influence to change stories about himself, but he has also used it against politicians he perceives as "unfriendly to investors" (read leftists) .
 
The second large private media corporation in Iceland is the one centered around Morgunbladid, which used to be the only daily in Iceland and has strong ties to IP. Its dominant shareholder is Gudbjorg Matthiasdottir, who is on the Top 5 of the richest persons in Iceland. She owns a large fishing enterprise and a lot of valuable fishing quota. Editor in chief is no other than Mr. David Oddson, ex IP prime minister (1991-2004), chairman of the board of governors of the central bank (2005-2009), and generally viewed as more responsible for the banking crash than any other politician in Iceland. All though Morgunbladid is nominally independent conservative this translates as Independence Party conservative and the paper is highly biased against the government.

Its of course not uncommon that rich right wingers own the media, but in a small country like Iceland the effect becomes stronger.

The left should have passed a Media Pluralism Act of some kind when they had the opportunity.

What would that entail?

Fairness guidelines, plus if necessary splitting the biggest media corporations and forcing them to sell part of their facilities to smaller companies.

And what of free speech?

There is no free speech currently. You have speech in media if you agree with the bosses of those medias.

[Antonio the Sixth]

One element that explains part of the leftist governments decline in the polls is the media situation in Iceland.

Its largest media corporation by far is 365 Miðlar which is primarily owned by Ingibjörg Pálmadóttir, the wife of London based businessman Jon Asgeir Johannesson, the richest "financial viking" from the boom era. Its well known that Jon Asgeir has been using his influence to change stories about himself, but he has also used it against politicians he perceives as "unfriendly to investors" (read leftists) .
 
The second large private media corporation in Iceland is the one centered around Morgunbladid, which used to be the only daily in Iceland and has strong ties to IP. Its dominant shareholder is Gudbjorg Matthiasdottir, who is on the Top 5 of the richest persons in Iceland. She owns a large fishing enterprise and a lot of valuable fishing quota. Editor in chief is no other than Mr. David Oddson, ex IP prime minister (1991-2004), chairman of the board of governors of the central bank (2005-2009), and generally viewed as more responsible for the banking crash than any other politician in Iceland. All though Morgunbladid is nominally independent conservative this translates as Independence Party conservative and the paper is highly biased against the government.

Its of course not uncommon that rich right wingers own the media, but in a small country like Iceland the effect becomes stronger.

The left should have passed a Media Pluralism Act of some kind when they had the opportunity.

What would that entail?

Fairness guidelines, plus if necessary splitting the biggest media corporations and forcing them to sell part of their facilities to smaller companies.

And what of free speech?

Freedom of speech, like any freedom, is not and can never be absolute.

[politicus]

One element that explains part of the leftist governments decline in the polls is the media situation in Iceland.

Its largest media corporation by far is 365 Miðlar which is primarily owned by Ingibjörg Pálmadóttir, the wife of London based businessman Jon Asgeir Johannesson, the richest "financial viking" from the boom era. Its well known that Jon Asgeir has been using his influence to change stories about himself, but he has also used it against politicians he perceives as "unfriendly to investors" (read leftists) .
 
The second large private media corporation in Iceland is the one centered around Morgunbladid, which used to be the only daily in Iceland and has strong ties to IP. Its dominant shareholder is Gudbjorg Matthiasdottir, who is on the Top 5 of the richest persons in Iceland. She owns a large fishing enterprise and a lot of valuable fishing quota. Editor in chief is no other than Mr. David Oddson, ex IP prime minister (1991-2004), chairman of the board of governors of the central bank (2005-2009), and generally viewed as more responsible for the banking crash than any other politician in Iceland. All though Morgunbladid is nominally independent conservative this translates as Independence Party conservative and the paper is highly biased against the government.

Its of course not uncommon that rich right wingers own the media, but in a small country like Iceland the effect becomes stronger.

The left should have passed a Media Pluralism Act of some kind when they had the opportunity.

What would that entail?

Fairness guidelines, plus if necessary splitting the biggest media corporations and forcing them to sell part of their facilities to smaller companies.

And what of free speech?

There is no free speech currently. You have speech in media if you agree with the bosses of those medias.

They have a national broadcaster, RUV, with the usual public service requirements and a four times a week independent tabloid, DV, so its a matter of domination and strong influence not exclusion of all other voices in the public debate.

[Diouf]

In discussions like these you should also remember that usually the journalists are quite significanlty more left-winged than the population as a whole, which of course also has an influence on the bias of the media corporations. 80 % of the Danish journalists, 77 % of the Swedish journalists and 57 % of Norwegian journalists votes for left-wing parties, so it would be suprising if something similar was not the case in Iceland.

[politicus]

In discussions like these you should also remember that usually the journalists are quite significantly more left-winged than the population as a whole, which of course also has an influence on the bias of the media corporations. 80 % of the Danish journalists, 77 % of the Swedish journalists and 57 % of Norwegian journalists votes for left-wing parties, so it would be suprising if something similar was not the case in Iceland.

But the difference is that in mainland Scandinavia owner influence on editorial policies is rare. This is different in Iceland giving less influence to editors and journalists - at least regarding some types of stories.

Also Jon Asgeir Johanneson is a self made "the rules doesn't apply to me" empire builder, who is convicted twice for economic crimes and is facing a prison sentence of up to 6 years if he is convicted in his current trial. He is more a media owner of the Berlusconi ilk than comparable to your average Scandinavian publicist.

As a consequence of his first conviction (3 months suspended for dodgy book keeping) in 2007 he was barred from running a business in Iceland for three years, thats why his wife got the media interests.

He just got 12 months suspended and a fine for tax evasion, but he is facing much more serious charges at the moment.

http://grapevine.is/Home/ReadArticle/Tycoon-Jon-Asgeir-Johannesson-Guilty-Of-Tax-Evasion

"Further legal battles await Jón Ásgeir in relation to his involvement as the largest shareholder in failed bank Glitnir. He stands accused of improperly influencing the bank regarding a loan of 1.2 billion GBP granted to Baugur just prior to the financial collapse. For this charge prosecutors are seeking six years imprisonment".

Its als worth considering that as chairman of the board for 365 Miðlar Ingibjörg Pálmadóttir has a more direct involvement in the running of the business than most Scandinavian media owners and that Jon Asgeir Johannesson has recently been hired as development manager in 365 Miðlar.



The lovely couple... Hope he is going to do some actual jail time after his next conviction, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[politicus]

IP seems desperate:

"Chairman of the Independence Party Bjarni Benediktsson says he might be stepping down from the upcoming elections, according to an interview last night on RÚV.

The Independence Party’s numbers are down according to the most recent Gallup polls, coming in at just 18.9%. In addition, a recent survey published by Viðskiptablaðið shows that the party’s popularity would increase with Vice Chairwoman and former mayor of Reykjavík Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir as leader. Incidentally, Bjarni’s popularity has risen slightly since revealing that he may step aside, Vísir reports".

Benediktsson will announce his decision either today or tomorrow.

Viðskiptablaðiðs survey asked for public support to individual politicians and whether people would rather vote for the Independence Party if Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir was party chairman. It showed that almost half of those intending to vote for the Progressive Party would vote IP if Hanna Birna K. was chairman of the party. So this might be a game changer.



HBK is a moderate like Benediktsson, but a lot tougher and centrist voters probably think she can keep the Christian Right types and Libertarians in check. Her middle class background might also be more appealing than blue blood Bjarni B.

This is the first time I have ever heard an opposition leader (or any party leader for that matter) announce in the middle of an election campaign, that he might be stepping down. It’s absurd. Either you step down or you carry on. I can’t honestly see how Benediktsson can backtrack at this point, even if he wants to.

[politicus]

A study of the recent MMR poll has shown that 30 out of 63 seats would go to candidates who have never been in parliament before if the seats where allocated according to it. Lots of rookie MPs and perhaps less clientilism and backroom deals, or at least one can hope so.

[Lurker]

In discussions like these you should also remember that usually the journalists are quite significanlty more left-winged than the population as a whole, which of course also has an influence on the bias of the media corporations. 80 % of the Danish journalists, 77 % of the Swedish journalists and 57 % of Norwegian journalists votes for left-wing parties, so it would be suprising if something similar was not the case in Iceland.

These numbers might be a bit misleading however, when it comes to analyzing media bias. Among political journalists (i.e. excluding sports columnists, celebrity journalism, etc.) there is not a left-wing majority. In both Norway and Sweden, political journalists vote, according to some studies as much/more right-wing than left. I haven't seen any numbers for Denmark, but wouldn't be surprised if the same applied there.
 

[Filuwaúrdjan]

For a classic example of that phenomenon, look at the Grauniad...

[Famous Mortimer]

Of course, all this talk of journalists' voting habits ignores the possibility that people can have opinions but still be objective about reporting facts.

I know, I know, I'll shut up now.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

In a newspaper?

[politicus]

IP leader Bjarni Benediktsson has decided to stay on as party chairman!



At a meeting he told a group of party members that:

"I am absolutely convinced that it was right to open this discussion and talk about things just as they are. And under these conditions, the special conditions, which offer nothing a man can hide under. Under these circumstances, I have searched my mind. [...] I have found there is nothing I or the Independence Party can do, but to continue to fight to the end."

(my translation using google translate so it might not be totally correct)

Guests at the meeting were apparantly satisfied with the decision of Bjarni as much applause followed. He said he had an unfailing faith in the partys ability to strengthen its position significantly in the time to come, but only so long as the party and party members stand together "as one man".

The whole thing is really weird to me. Wonder if this stunt really will silence his internal critics? And how will the voters react? Apparantly he hopes they will reward his straight talking honesty, but I doubt it.

HBK was apparantly "annoyed" with the entire discussion. I dont thing she wants to lead IP in a major defeat. Getting the leadership after a defeat will put her in a much stronger position.

[politicus]

No less than 15 parties will be running in the election. 11 nationally, 2 small leftist parties (the Humanists and Peoples Front of Iceland) in the two Reykjavik constituencies and 2 other parties in just one constituency - the Rural Party i NV-Iceland and Sturla Jonsson (named after the party's founder - Icelands most famous truck driver) in Reykjavik South.


Sturla Jonsson - Who wouldnt want to vote for this guy?

I made a mistake regarding Democracy Watch. Democracy Watch and the Iceland Democratic Party are two names for the same party, a centrist group in favour of the new constitution with many moderate Conservatives. Most of the founders were in the Constitution Council (see my earlier description of IDP and the constitution post). Its correct that they are a splinter group from Dawn.
 
Also, Dawn still has a couple of social liberals left, so its not a pure left wing party (but mainly leftists).

[Famous Mortimer]

That fella has the old Liberal Party logo under his picture.

The Liberal Party merging into Dawn struck me as really odd.

I guess I could see some libertarian types joining a vaguely anti-establishment party. Just the name "Liberal Party" though, it suggests establishment much more than it suggests libertarianism.

[politicus]

That fella has the old Liberal Party logo under his picture.

The Liberal Party merging into Dawn struck me as really odd.

I guess I could see some libertarian types joining a vaguely anti-establishment party. Just the name "Liberal Party" though, it suggests establishment much more than it suggests libertarianism.

It was clearly a folksy anti-establishment party in the mold of the Progressive Parties in Denmark and Norway (combining populism, libertarianism and xenophobia). It was mainly a protest movement against the fishing quotas, but also pro civil liberties and against clientilism and the corrupt elite.

Liberalism often means Libertarianism in Scandinavia. Liberal Alliance in Denmark is Libertarian.

The weirdest thing in connection with their participation in Dawn is that the Liberals were also slightly xenophobic. But this never entered Dawns platform.

The Libertarianism of those parties is kind of a faux Libertarianism, since they say they want low taxes and small government, but also support welfare (but only for "normal", hard working people).

Answers to a questionaire in 2009:

The Liberal Party - In Their Own Words

The Liberal Party was originally founded to fight the unjust fishing quota system law that was passed by Alþingi (parliament) in 1991 and the party's objective has always been that Iceland's habitants have a righteous and fair fisheries control, as fisheries are the nations fundamental industry. In the current economic situation, The Liberal Party emphasizes the abolishment of the quota system to fight unemployment.

The Liberal Party also emphasizes the importance of professions that increase the influx and circulation of foreign currency, e.g. tourism, codfish farming, and mussel farming. Furthermore, the Liberal Party places emphasis on those professions that preserve national currency, such as grain farming, vegetable farming and handcraft.

The Liberal Party has always fought for abolishing loan indexation, pointing to the fact that the current system is directing homes into heavy debt. Therefore, The Liberal Party has put forth a bill to Alþingi to limit price-increase compensation to avoid mass bankruptcy of the public.

The Liberal Party believes that the nation, as a whole, has an unconditional right to a complete revaluation of the countries administrational branch and its economy. Cliquishness due to political-ties and nepotism must be rooted out with critical and honest methods.

The Liberal Party is the only party in Parliament that has never been a part of government, and now expects this to change. It is necessary that The Liberal Party's standpoints are a part of the heavy work ahead in our country. The Liberal Party has courage and boldness to tackle the matters that need to be dealt with. The money that has been made away with has to be returned to the nation, regardless of the time and effort needed to make that happen.


Briefly describe the party’s general agenda using one sentence.

The Liberal Party wants a society characterized by equality and justice, where free members of the community are active and responsible participants in society’s development.

How does the party plan to help Icelandic companies?

Fight for lower interest rates and that the banks start giving businesses normal loans again. No business can handle the current cost of capital and unemployment will rise even more if no action is taken.

How does the party plan to help Icelandic homes?

Abolish price indexation and partially write off the publics housing loans by passing a law on temporary accounts for the rest of the year. This way it is possible to determine write offs from actual real estate prices, which have been going down while loans have been going up.


How can Iceland regain trustworthiness in the eyes of foreign investors and creditors? How can Iceland prevent becoming isolated in the global village?

By negotiating contracts with foreign lending institutions regarding joint ownership, of up to 1/3, of the now government owned banks, we need foreign financial resources into our banking system.


What is your party’s stance on the European Union?

National (domestic) resources are a priority for Iceland and therefore Iceland should not join the EU.


Who is responsible for the Icelandic economic collapse and the problems Iceland now faces? Does your party share any of the responsibility?  

The plunderers in the group of so called “investment Vikings” receiving excessive salaries and those political parties in government in the last years. The Liberal Party was not member of government in the last 10 years. The Independence Party led the government and held both the Prime- and Financial Ministries. They wanted free flow financials, and they slept on their guard. Shame on them for their apathy and inaction!


What is your party’s stance on constitutional change? Should we assemble a constitutional parliament, or are there other ways?

We want to change the constitution and we support the bill regarding that. We also support ideas of a constitutional assembly.


It is given that the Icelandic state needs to initiate many cutbacks in the near future. Where should those be imposed, in your opinion, and are there any fields that should be “exempt” from such cutbacks?

Surely, cutbacks will be required when laying out our national budget because the treasury's revenue has decreased by billions after the financial collapse. It is essential to cut back and adjust in all fields, but at the same time, guard the welfare system and ensure good health services, while effectively cutting back. Foreign- and defense affairs should be contracted as much as possible, and we should rely more on police and coast guard as security measures for Icelanders in the future. Military leaning ideas should be put aside in current tribulation. Cutbacks alone are not an option. Creating new jobs with all means possible is essential and thus increases the nations income.

[politicus]

Höskuldur Þórhallsson, one of the most influential Progressive Party MPs, has said that the Progressive Party should be open to working with the left wing. When asked whether they could form a government with the left he said that:

"I think it is a unique opportunity to form a centrist and welfare focused government".
"What makes all the difference to the Progressive Party is working with people who are willing to take the steps which the party has emphasized in its campaign".

Then he backtracks a little:
"But whether it's on the left, the center or to the right, it will only happen after the elections".

Still its the first time a prominent PP politician has implied so openly, that they consider leaving IP out in the cold after a PP win. It makes sense policy wise, but they would be setting IP up for a major comeback in the next election, if they do it.

[Bacon King]

On the note of Icelandic politics, I just wanted to remind everyone that this video exists and is still hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxBW4mPzv6E

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

On the note of Icelandic politics, I just wanted to remind everyone that this video exists and is still hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxBW4mPzv6E

Interesting how "we are the best" sounds the same in Icelandic.

[politicus]

On the note of Icelandic politics, I just wanted to remind everyone that this video exists and is still hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxBW4mPzv6E

Yeah, I guess the video was allright, but like all joke parties/candidates once they get into office and have to be serious they tend to be even more boring than established parties. Now the more serious part of BP have transformed itself into a social liberal greenie, pacifist (in a country without an army... ) party called Bright Future (almost a parody on the Best Party name), with a campaign theme about how the tone in Icelandic politics should be nicer and more civil and they are even pro-EU. Not that there is anything wrong with that (well, apart from the EU thing...), but its all pretty cafe latte/PC/bourgeois (take your pick).

[politicus]

Rural seats will still be the cheapest in this election which is going to benefit PP. Even with an extra seat to the SW Constituency a seat will cost 4.858 votes around Reykjavik and 2.668 in rural North West Iceland and 2.905 in the PP heartland in the North East (in the hypothetical scenario where everybody votes). A seat in SW will cost 82% more than in the NE, but last time it was 105%, so its an improvement. The urban/rural balance is now 35/28 seats = 60%/40%.

A total of 237 957 Icelanders can vote - around 13 000 of them living abroad.

Suðvesturkjördæmi (South West - basically outer part of the greater Reykjavik area + ex-urbs)
 •2003 - 11 þingmenn: 4.442 voters per seat
 •2007 - 12 þingmenn: 4.549
 •2009 - 12 þingmenn: 4.850
 •2013 - 13 þingmenn: 4.858
 
Norðvesturkjördæmi (North West)
 •2003 - 10 þingmenn: 2.122
 •2007 -   9 þingmenn: 2.347
 •2009 -   9 þingmenn: 2.366
 •2013 -   8 þingmenn: 2.668
 
Reykjavíkurkjördæmi suður (Reykjavik South)
 •2003 - 11 þingmenn: 3.885
 •2007 - 11 þingmenn: 3.945
 •2009 - 11 þingmenn: 3.977
 •2013 - 11 þingmenn: 4.109
 
Reykjavíkurkjördæmi norður: (Reykjavik North)
 •2003 - 11 þingmenn: 3.890
 •2007 - 11 þingmenn: 3.980
 •2009 - 11 þingmenn: 3.980
 •2013 - 11 þingmenn: 4.142
 
Suðurkjördæmi: (South)
 •2003 - 10 þingmenn: 2.837
 •2007 - 10 þingmenn: 3.070
 •2009 - 10 þingmenn: 3.250
 •2013 - 10 þingmenn: 3.364
 
Norðausturkjördæmi: (North East)
 •2003 - 10 þingmenn: 2.732
 •2007 - 10 þingmenn: 2.789
 •2009 - 10 þingmenn: 2.836
 •2013 - 10 þingmenn: 2.905
 
On average a seat costs 3.777 votes if 100% votes, so maybe around 3.000 IRL.

[politicus]

New poll from MMR with increased support for IP after their dip to 18,9% and abysmal support for SDA. Its conducted 11.-14. April, which makes it a bit unreliable since many of the respondents probably thought HBK was going to replace Bjarni Benediktsson as IP leader. The Pirates seems to be getting most of the protest votes again after their recent dip to 5,6%. I put the MMR poll from a week ago in (). Dawn has reeemerged out of the blue and probably taken some votes from the Left Greens.


PP 32.7% (30.2%)

IP 22.9% IP (21.2%)

Pirates 9.0% (7.8%)

Left Greens 6.7% (8.1%)

SDA 10.4% (12.7%)

Bright Future 9.5% (9.2%)

Dawn 3,6% (1.4%)

Democracy Watch 3,0% (3,0%)

Right Greens 1,0% (2,7%)

Households Party 0,6%

Rural Party 0,6%

People Front of Iceland 0,1%

Others 0,1%

[Hifly]

Are there leadership debates? If so are there certain leaders that can seek to gain from this?