Birgitta Jónsdóttir, the leader of the anti-establishment Pirate party, is one of the candidates the German newspaper Der Spiegel offers its readers in an interactive game to pick the International Politician of the Year. Birgitta's achievement, according to Spiegel is to have secured the Pirate party a 14% vote in the parliamentary elections in November, and to have come within striking distance of becoming a cabinet member in government.
Birgitta, a poet and activist, was first elected to parliament in 2009 following the mass protests, the Pots and Pans Revolution which broke out after the 2008 financial crash. In 2012 she and a number of other activists founded the Icelandic Pirate party, an anti-establishment party emphasizing transparency, direct democracy and the fight against corruption. The party received 5.1% in the elections of 2013 and 3 MPs. In the 2016 elections the party nearly tripled its vote, receiving 14.5% and 10 MPs.
Read more: Breaking: Pirate party fails to form coalition government, will return mandate
Birgitta was given the mandate to form a coalition government by the president of Iceland after the leaders of the largest parties in parliament, the chairman of the conservative Independence party and the chairwoman of the left wing Left Green movement had failed to form a center-right and a center-left coalitions, respectively. Birgitta failed to hammer out an agreement between the parties of the center and left.
Other choices include people like Russian president Vladimir Puti, Donald Trump, the US president elect and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, but also the US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and pope Francis.
Birgitta Jónsdóttir, the leader of the anti-establishment Pirate party, is one of the candidates the German newspaper Der Spiegel offers its readers in an interactive game to pick the International Politician of the Year. Birgitta's achievement, according to Spiegel is to have secured the Pirate party a 14% vote in the parliamentary elections in November, and to have come within striking distance of becoming a cabinet member in government.
Birgitta, a poet and activist, was first elected to parliament in 2009 following the mass protests, the Pots and Pans Revolution which broke out after the 2008 financial crash. In 2012 she and a number of other activists founded the Icelandic Pirate party, an anti-establishment party emphasizing transparency, direct democracy and the fight against corruption. The party received 5.1% in the elections of 2013 and 3 MPs. In the 2016 elections the party nearly tripled its vote, receiving 14.5% and 10 MPs.
Read more: Breaking: Pirate party fails to form coalition government, will return mandate
Birgitta was given the mandate to form a coalition government by the president of Iceland after the leaders of the largest parties in parliament, the chairman of the conservative Independence party and the chairwoman of the left wing Left Green movement had failed to form a center-right and a center-left coalitions, respectively. Birgitta failed to hammer out an agreement between the parties of the center and left.
Other choices include people like Russian president Vladimir Puti, Donald Trump, the US president elect and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, but also the US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and pope Francis.
