Iceland parliamentary election

[Famous Mortimer]

Taking place April 27th.

A Gallup poll on April 1st shows:

Progressive Party (anti-EU liberals) 28.3%
Independence Party (formerly dominant conservatives) 22.4%
Social Democratic Alliance (incumbent centre-left) 15%
Bright Future (ideologically vague party with two incumbents, a former Social Democrat and a former Progressive, as well as links to the joke-y Best Party) 12.7%
Green-Left Movement (left-wing junior partner in the current coalition, came close to coming in second last time) 8.5%
Pirate Party 4.4%
Democracy Watch (breakaway from Dawn, see below) 3.1%
Right-Green Movement (low tax greens) 2.1
Dawn (Vague anti-establishment populists who did moderately well in the last election under the name Citizens' Movement) 1.5%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_parliamentary_election,_2013

Anti-EU sentiment seems to be the main thing helping the Progressives (who only recently switched to an anti-position).

I also suspect this is another case of the people in power being unfairly blamed for not magically fixing the economy.

I'm unsure exactly what the Progressive Party's current ideology is. They had previously been firmly on the center-right, acting as the junior partner to the Independence Party for more than a decade. Then again, they flipped on the EU, they may have flipped on more. Wikipedia says they got a party switcher from the Green-Left. As a social democrat, I'm not optimistic though.

[Famous Mortimer]

The Social Democrats advocacy of EU membership is sort of a 90s holdover policy.

When they got into power, they started acting on it, almost out of habit since it had been part of their platform for so long.

Anyway, it's since because clear that that was NOT why they were elected and the Social Democrats have de-emphasized it. Still, a lot of people were apparently angry that they wasted any time at all on it.

[Famous Mortimer]

politicus, what do you know about the Progressives current political orientation?

[Famous Mortimer]

If people really are mad at the Social Democrats for not being left-wing enough, I'm surprised they aren't giving the Green-Left a shot. After all, they almost came in second last time.

[Famous Mortimer]

In early 2009, the PP, with the same leader it has now, offered to form a government with the Social Democrats and the Green-Left. The Social Democrats turned them down though because they knew they could win an election on their own. So there's that.

[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.

[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.

[Famous Mortimer]

I assume that such a result would still result in a Progressive Party government?

[Famous Mortimer]

What's the Icelandic Pirate Party's ideology look like?

I'm always suspicious of Pirate Parties as Trojan horses for right-libertarianism.

[Famous Mortimer]

The Pirate Party did have one incumbent.