A party that hangs a skull-and-crossbones flag at its HQ, and promises to clean up corruption, grant asylum to Edward Snowden and accept the bitcoin virtual currency, could be on course to form the next Icelandic government.
The Pirate Party has found a formula that has eluded many anti-establishment groups across Europe. It has tempered polarising policies like looser copyright enforcement rules and drug decriminalisation with pledges of economic stability that have won confidence among voters.
This has allowed it to ride a wave of public anger at perceived corruption among the political elite - the biggest election issue in a country where a 2008 banking collapse hit thousands of savers and government figures have been mired in an offshore tax furore following the Panama Papers leaks.
The left-leaning party is part of a global anti-establishment typified by Britain's vote to leave the European Union. But their platform is far removed from the anti-immigration policies of the UK Independence Party, France's National Front and Germany's AfD, or the anti-austerity of Greece's Syriza.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iceland-election-idUKKCN11Z1RV
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 05 2016, @06:53PM
FTFS: the anti-austerity of Greece's Syriza
SYRIZA[1] **campaigned** on an anti-austerity platform.
As soon as they gained power, however, they embraced austerity enthusiastically.
The self-proclaimed "Left" party in Spain, Podemos, appears to be cut from the same cloth.
When they gained the mayoral positions in Barcelona and Madrid, they too embraced austerity.
Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing.
[1] It's an initialism.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]