Pirate Party sails into parliament

Leaders of the Bright Future and the Left Green Movement join the Independence Party's Bjarni Benediktsson, Pirate Party's Birgita Jonsdottir, the Progressive Party's Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson and the leader of the Social Democratic Alliance for a TV debate on election night in Reykjavk. Picture: Halldor Kolbeins Source: AFP

ICELAND'S Pirate Party, a file-sharing activist movement, had wind in its sails in the country's election, becoming the first of its kind to win seats in a national parliament.

The libertarian movement, modelled on its Swedish namesake which has been campaigning for copyright reform since 2006, garnered 5.1 per cent of the vote, just above the five per cent election threshold, giving it three of the 63 seats in the Icelandic legislature.

The party was already represented in the parliament, known as the Althing, through co-founder Birgitta Jonsdottir, 46, an activist and poet who in the previous election ran under the banner of the Citizen's Movement.

Jonsdottir told public broadcaster RUV the results were "historic".

Founded in November last year, the party is young compared to its Swedish counterpart - which pioneered the movement and has two members of the European Parliament - as well as the German Pirate Party which has won seats in state legislatures.

After an inconspicuous launch, the Icelandic group made a splash in the polls less than a month before the vote, passing the five per cent election threshold that, in addition to Althing representation, gives it access to state funding.

Its internet-based campaign slammed the growing role of corporate interests in politics, appealing to protest voters and stealing some of the supporters who helped elect the Left-Green movement in 2009.

"We're not vying to get a seat in the government. But we're ready to work with any party that will be interested in the issues we've been raising," Jonsdottir told AFP.

Those issues included "21st century laws" on online privacy, freedom of information and government transparency, she said.

"Many people see Iceland as a kind of laboratory for democracy. We have to live up to this reputation," she said.

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