Rural voice at stake in proposed election changes

Jónína Brynjólfsdóttir, president of the Múlaþing municipal council and an alternate MP for Iceland’s Northeast constituency, says the voice of rural Iceland could disappear if proposals to revise the electoral system are adopted, mbl.is reports.

A working group appointed by the justice minister wants to increase the number of equalisation seats from nine to 27 to give votes more equal weight, without increasing the total number of MPs. It also proposes moving four parliamentary seats from North Iceland to the Southwest constituency.

In a Facebook post, Jónína said the proposal was not an innocent technical change but a major transfer of political power from rural areas to the capital region.

“Of the 10 MPs here in the Northeast constituency, two are from East Iceland. That is 3% of MPs. East Iceland accounts for 3% of the population,” she told mbl.is. “And this small patch that would then have 40 MPs is one-tenth the size of Múlaþing and 37 times smaller than the Northeast constituency.”

Jónína said she was concerned about the interests behind the proposed changes.

“Keeping settlements across the country is a decision. The imbalance is a decision. We in rural Iceland are trying to fight for our regions. We want to be listened to, and it is entirely reasonable to demand that this imbalance be maintained and that we be allowed to keep the MPs who speak for us,” she said.

She said the interests of urban and rural areas were very different.

“A divide between rural Iceland and the capital has been developing for many decades, and that was evident in the referendum. It cannot be ignored,” she said.

Asked whether the current system offered more balance than the working group’s proposals, Jónína said it did.

“I have nothing against examining these matters, but what I think is missing is keeping rural perspectives in view and taking them into account when these proposals are drawn up. Having this imbalance is a decision, and changing it is also a decision,” she said.

She added that every region of Iceland should have a voice in Alþingi, the country’s parliament, because the legislature needed to reflect the country’s regions, priorities and rural concerns.

“We all need one another,” Jónína said.