Iceland’s Election Results Are In: Who Won?

FEATURING VIDAR THORSTEINSSON – Icelanders voted on Saturday in national elections that have drawn attention internationally. A renegade political party that emerged only a few years ago calling itself the Pirate Party was expected to win big. In the end it won 14 and a half percent of seats in Parliament, a big jump from what it held before. Another relatively new party called Resurrection won just over 10%.

One of Europe’s smallest countries, Iceland has in recent years been the focus of admiration from the US left for its dealings with banking executives and the recession.

Vidar Thorsteinsson, lecturer in the Department of Comparative Studies at Ohio State University and has been active in various social justice movements in Iceland. His essay in the recent anthology entitled Europe in Revolt is called The Iceland Myth.