localized unit of the Pirate Party was established in Reykjavík yesterday, with the intention of running for municipal elections next spring.
Vísir reports that Halldór Auðar Svansson was elected chairperson of the party, with Hildur Sif Thorarensen, Þórlaug Ágústsdóttir, Jóhann Haukur Gunnarsson and Aron Ívarsson also in directorship.
Party primary elections – where voters decide which party candidates will appear in what order on the list of candidates for election – will reportedly be held shortly after the new year. Voting will also be done entirely online, which would be a first for city politics in Reykjavík.
Halldór told reporters that the party is fairly confident they will get at least one seat of Reykjavík city council’s 15 seats. “But we’re aiming for two or three,” he added. “I don’t think that’s unrealistic.”
In fact, a poll from last month on which parties voters would choose if municipal elections were held today did not even include the Pirate Party amongst the choices. Polling at the time showed Bright Future taking six seats; the Independence Party getting five seats; the Social Democrats getting three and the Left-Greens getting one.
Rather, about 4.9% of those polled reportedly chose “other parties” than these four. At the same time, the Pirate Party had not yet announced they were running for city elections, and about half of those polled said they were undecided.
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