The Icelandic Pirate Party was founded on 24 November 2012 by Smári McCarthy and several Internet activists, including Birgitta Jónsdóttir (previously a member of the Movement).[2][4][5][6]
The party successfully applied for the ballot list letter Þ (resembling the party's logo) in order to run in the 2013 election. In July 2016, the party requested and was issued the letter P for future elections.
Following the Charlie Hebdo shooting on 7 January 2015, the Pirate Party began a campaign to repeal Iceland's blasphemy laws. The laws, which had been introduced in 1940, were successfully repealed in early July 2015. The repeal, introduced by the Pirate Party, read: "Freedom of expression is one of the cornerstones of democracy. It is fundamental to a free society that people should be able to express themselves without fear of punishment, whether from the authorities or from other people".[9] During the vote on the repeal, the three Pirate Party members of the Althing stood and declared "Je suis Charlie", in solidarity with the French satirical magazine.[10]
For around a year from April 2015 to April 2016, the party consistently topped polling for the next Icelandic parliamentary election in 2016, with support roughly equal to the Independence Party and the Progressive Party combined, who were at the time partners in a coalition government.[11][12][13] An MMR opinion poll published in January 2016 put their public support at 37.8%, significantly above that of all other Icelandic political parties.[14]
In April 2016, public protests about the Prime Minister's role in the Panama Papers brought out a significant percentage of the whole population, and may have been among "the largest demonstrations of any kind, in any country, ever (proportionately speaking)".[15] In the wake of the Panama Papers scandal, polls in April 2016 showed the Pirate Party at 43% and the Independence Party at 21.6%.[16] A poll by the Social Science Research Institute of the University of Iceland with data from 14–19 October 2016 put the Pirate Party in first place in the general election on 29 October 2016 with 22.6% of the vote.[17]
Despite promising signs, party significantly underperformed in the 2016 election. While they saw a major increase in vote share and seats, they finished in third place behind the Independence Party and Left-Greens with 14.5% of the vote; almost a third of what some had polls shown at the beginning of the year.[18]
In the 2017 election held a year later, the Pirates fell to sixth place, winning 9.2% of the vote and losing four seats, and remained around the same level of support in the 2021 election, winning six seats and remaining in sixth position. The party lost all its seats for the first time in the 2024 election.
The party has not officially taken a position in favour of or against Iceland's accession to the European Union. The party has however concluded the following in a party policy on the European Union:[19]
Iceland must never become a member of the European Union unless the membership agreement is put to a referendum after having been presented to the nation in an impartial manner.
Should Iceland join the European Union, the country shall be a single constituency in elections to the European Parliament.
Should Iceland join the European Union, Icelandic shall be one of its official languages.
If negotiations on the accession of Iceland to the European Union halt, or membership is rejected by either party, a review of the agreement on the European Economic Area must be sought, to better ensure Iceland's self-determination. It is unacceptable that Iceland needs to take up a large part of the European legislation through a business agreement without getting representatives or an audience.
The conditions of Pirates for Iceland's membership to the European Union are that Iceland be exempt from adopting the Data Retention Directive (2006/24/EC – declared invalid by the European Court of Justice in April 2014[20]) and the regulation regarding enforcement of uncontested claims (1869/2005/EC), which would otherwise defy fundamental human rights.
The party stated in its 2021 policy agenda that it wants to in the future transition the government support structure towards an unconditional basic income.[25] The party also stated its support for harm reduction and the decriminalisation of drug use, instead focusing on building support systems for those with problems and housing homeless addicts.[25]
^Andrew Reitemeyer (25 November 2012). "Iceland has a Pirate Party". Reykjavik, Iceland: Pirate Times. Archived from the original on 29 November 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
^"Píratar halda stofnfund" [Pirate Party holds an establishment meeting] (in Icelandic). Reykjavik, Iceland: Árvakur hf. 24 November 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
^"Evrópusambandið" (in Icelandic). Pirate Party Iceland. 2013. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013. Það er ekki hlutverk stjórnmálaflokka að taka afstöðu með eða á móti aðild en aftur á móti eiga þeir að vera undirbúnir undir hvora niðurstöðuna sem er.
^Boði Logason (4 July 2013). "Snowden-frumvarp lagt fram á Alþingi" [Snowden-bill introduced in Althing] (in Icelandic). Reykjavik, Iceland: 365. Retrieved 4 July 2013. Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, Birgitta Jónsdóttir og Jón Þór Ólafsson þingmenn Pírata, Ögmundur Jónasson þingmaður Vinstri grænna, Páll Valur Björnsson þingmaður Bjartrar framtíðar og Helgi Hjörvar þingmaður Samfylkingarinnar hafa lagt fram frumvarp á Alþingi um að bandaríska uppljóstraranum Edward Snowden verði tafarlaust veittur íslenskur ríkisborgararéttur.
^"Vilja gera Snowden að íslenskum ríkisborgara" [Want to make Snowden an Icelandic citizen] (in Icelandic). Reykjavik, Iceland: Árvakur hf. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013. Fyrsti flutningsmaður er Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, þingmaður Pírata, en meðflutningsmenn eru samflokksmenn hans Birgitta Jónsdóttir og Jón Þór Ólafsson ásamt Ögmundi Jónassyni, þingmanni Vinstrihreyfingarinnar - græns framboðs, Helga Hjörvar, þingmanni Samfylkingarinnar, og Páli Val Björnssyni, þingmann Bjartrar framtíðar.
^"Fær mögulega ríkisborgararétt" [Receives possibly Icelandic citizenship] (in Icelandic). Reykjavik, Iceland: DV ehf. 4 July 2013. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013. Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, Birgitta Jónsdóttir, Jón Þór Ólafsson, Ögmundur Jónasson, Páll Valur Björnsson og Helgi Hjörvar eru flutningsmenn frumvarpsins. Allir þingmenn Pírata eru flutningsmenn frumvarpsins enda eðlilegt í ljósi þess að samtökin Wikileaks hafa aðstoðað Snowden frá því að hann kom fram.
^"Snowden-frumvarp lagt fram á þingi" [Snowden-bill introduced in parliament] (in Icelandic). Kopavogur, Iceland: Eyjan Media ehf. 4 July 2013. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013. Að frumvarpinu standa Píratarnir Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, Birgitta Jónsdóttir og Jón Þór Ólafsson, Ögmundur Jónasson, VG, Páll Valur Björnsson, Bjartri Framtíð og Helgi Hjörvar, Samfylkingunni.
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