The Panama Papers leak — which showed how the world's rich and powerful have been hiding wealth with anonymous shell companies — claimed its first victim in Sigmundur Gunnlaugson, the prime minister of Iceland who stepped down April 5. Two other top Iceland officials have also been named.
The Nordic island is in political fervor, as thousands assembled in Reykjavík to protest Gunnlaugson's government. Some of the protesters even hurled their national yogurt at parliament.
Now Iceland's reformist Pirate Party is gaining tons of support. According to a new Gallup poll, 43% of Icelanders support it — beating out its closest competition by over 20%.
The Pirate Party platform is based around direct democracy, government transparency, copyright reform, and drug policy reform.
The Pirate Party says that doesn't think of itself as leftist or rightist, but rather wants to change the structural systems of government. If in power, the Pirate Party would use online voting to allow the public to make decisions that affect them instead of relying on elected officials.
On the Party's website, it refers to itself as "hackers" of the outdated government system. The aim is to be the "Robin Hood of power," the site says, by delivering power from the elite to the people.
The Pirate Party has three members in Icelandic parliament. They hang a skull-and-crossbones flag in their office.
