Birgitta Jónsdóttir, the best known leader of the anti-establishment Pirate Party has announced she will not seek re-election when the current term comes to an end in 2020. Birgitta was one of the founders of the party, and has been one of its best known spokesmen and leaders.
Nobody is irreplaceable
Birgitta has repeatedly indicated she would retire from Parliament, arguing it is not good for politicians to stay too long in power. She had initially suggested she would not stand for re-election in 2016, but later reversed her decision to ensure she could share her experience of parliament with the slew of new Pirate Party MPs who were elected in 2016.
She made the announcement in an interview with the local newspaper Fréttablaðið, where she explained her decision.
No matter what people might say, it isn't healthy for anyone to stay too long in parliament. Nobody is irreplaceable, and least of all me. My energies are needed elsewhere, and when the time comes I will reveal what it is that that I will be doing after leaving parliament.
A colorful political career
Birgitta was first elected to parliament in 2009, for the grass-roots Citizens Movement which was formed by activists following the protests following the 2008 collapse of the Icelandic banking system, the so called Pots and pans revolution. In 2012 Birgitta then founded the Pirate Party along with anti-corruption activist Smári McCarthy and several other anti-corruption and privacy rights activists.
In the 2013 elections the party received 5.1% of the vote, and 3 MPs. After the elections the support of the party skyrocketed in polls, reaching 43% in April 2016, following the revelations of the Panama Papers. In the October 2016 elections the party received 14.5% of the vote and 10 MPs, making them the third largest party in parliament.
Birgitta Jónsdóttir, the best known leader of the anti-establishment Pirate Party has announced she will not seek re-election when the current term comes to an end in 2020. Birgitta was one of the founders of the party, and has been one of its best known spokesmen and leaders.
Nobody is irreplaceable
Birgitta has repeatedly indicated she would retire from Parliament, arguing it is not good for politicians to stay too long in power. She had initially suggested she would not stand for re-election in 2016, but later reversed her decision to ensure she could share her experience of parliament with the slew of new Pirate Party MPs who were elected in 2016.
She made the announcement in an interview with the local newspaper Fréttablaðið, where she explained her decision.
No matter what people might say, it isn't healthy for anyone to stay too long in parliament. Nobody is irreplaceable, and least of all me. My energies are needed elsewhere, and when the time comes I will reveal what it is that that I will be doing after leaving parliament.
A colorful political career
Birgitta was first elected to parliament in 2009, for the grass-roots Citizens Movement which was formed by activists following the protests following the 2008 collapse of the Icelandic banking system, the so called Pots and pans revolution. In 2012 Birgitta then founded the Pirate Party along with anti-corruption activist Smári McCarthy and several other anti-corruption and privacy rights activists.
In the 2013 elections the party received 5.1% of the vote, and 3 MPs. After the elections the support of the party skyrocketed in polls, reaching 43% in April 2016, following the revelations of the Panama Papers. In the October 2016 elections the party received 14.5% of the vote and 10 MPs, making them the third largest party in parliament.
