Icelandic protest vote.

It is rare for a party started with the express intention of taking the piss out of the political system, or really as a joke wins. We have had a couple of parties that were jokes achieve representation but they weren’t founded as jokes. The Australian Democrats was one where a Liberal minister quit and managed to take the ‘don’t knows’ out of the opinion polls and weld them into a solid political force. They held the balance of power in the Senate for years.

One Nation was another. It was founded when Pauline Hanson was disendorsed by the Liberals and went it alone and won a federal seat. She formed the party at a time when the Nationals members were disillusioned. Keating’s removal of protectionism and trade barriers had wiped away the parties ability to implement agrarian socialism, and Pauline was able to offer them unreality for a while, and they sweept the polls in Queensland. They are pretty much gone now.

Meanwhile in Iceland the ‘Best Party’ has gained the majority in the Reykjavik council elections, which represents the majority of the nation. The party is the brainchild of an entertainer, Jon Gnarr, who decided to start a website to satirise politics in Iceland after the banking collapse of 08. It took off. He has offered such whimsical policies as a drug free parliament by 2020.

Some of his stuff is really funny:


Unfortunately there is little to go on as to what he really intends to do. Some of the stuff he is offering is straight left wing but I am inclined to think that it is really part of the joke. Some of them are, to improve the quality of life of the less fortunate, stop corruption, (OK), equality, increase transparency, free bus rides for students and the poor, drag those responsible for the economic collapse to court, and listen more to women and old people.

Now he is mayor he may possibly take things seriously and pull the place out of the shit. He is a man who has the proven ability to think outside the square and might just be able to get the council out of the way and let business do the job.

I am not optimistic but the slogan, "Economise, we only need one Santa," is promising.