Inga Sæland says People’s Party owes no elite

Inga Sæland, Iceland’s minister of education and children’s affairs, said the People’s Party owed nothing to any elite and everything to the public in a speech to parliament on Wednesday evening, mbl.is reports.

Sæland said she decided to establish the party about a decade ago after hearing that 9.1% of children in Iceland lived in varying degrees of poverty. Its purpose was to fight poverty and create a fairer society, she said.

“People first, then everything else,” Sæland said, arguing that politicians often forget that a person stands behind every figure and króna in a national budget. She referred to older people who must choose between collecting their medicines and having food on the table, disabled people facing prejudice and closed doors, single parents, and low-paid workers struggling to make ends meet.

Sæland said it was easy to claim support for disabled people, older people, children and those living in poverty as elections approached. The real test, she said, came when politicians had to choose between powerful interest groups and people without strong advocates.

“The People’s Party knows its purpose. We are not here to serve an elite in power or protect the special interests of selected people. We owe no elite anything. We owe the people of this country everything,” she said.

Sæland also highlighted changes to social security payments. From 1 January, such payments will follow the wage index, ending what she described as years of older people and disabled people falling behind wage developments.

She criticised elected representatives who opposed the improvement while defending the profits of the wealthiest. Sæland said the government would eliminate all waiting lists for older people seeking security and care, and said about 1,400 new nursing places had been put into development.