Sigurður Kári says Viðreisn has abandoned its promises

Voters who backed Viðreisn in the last parliamentary election may now be having second thoughts, argues Sigurður Kári Kristjánsson in an opinion article published by Morgunblaðið.

Kristjánsson writes that people who left the Independence Party to establish Viðreisn did so because they opposed the view held by a large majority of Independence Party members that Iceland would be best off outside the European Union. He says Viðreisn was also presented as a liberal, centre-right party supporting greater freedom, business growth and value creation. Former Independence Party leaders, including its former chair and deputy chair, were put forward to reinforce that image, he writes.

Viðreisn’s main objective failed, Kristjánsson argues, when voters rejected its central policy on the EU in a referendum on August 29. He says the party lost its purpose in Icelandic politics once it became clear it would not achieve its goal on the issue.

He argues that the party has since weakened its position further by proposing a budget that runs counter to its stated support for business, value creation and greater freedom. The proposal, he says, breaks promises made before the last election and repeated when the current government was formed.

At a press conference introducing the Valkyrie government at Kjarvalsstaðir on December 21, 2024, party leader Þorgerður Katrín said: “We will not raise income taxes on people, corporate taxes, capital income taxes or VAT on tourism.”

Despite that pledge, Kristjánsson says, the budget proposal would raise taxes on everyone in Iceland. He says charges would increase by more than the inflation target, taxes on financial companies would rise, and VAT on tourism would increase. These measures would come on top of levies imposed on the fishing industry last year, he writes, adding that energy could be next.

Kristjánsson argues that the party’s approach contradicts its leader’s repeated claim that it puts “the public interest ahead of special interests” and is against the interests of the public as a whole.

He says few Icelandic political parties have abandoned their promises and policies so clearly, and in such a short time, as Viðreisn. He describes the party as having developed an appetite for tax increases, and says its ministers seem unable to see a tax without raising it.

He also accuses Viðreisn of waging a campaign against businesses through tax increases, burdensome regulations, price controls, directives and bans, which he says undermine value creation and weaken the competitiveness of Icelandic companies.

Political scientists have until now placed Viðreisn to the right of centre in Icelandic politics, Kristjánsson writes.