Sósíalistaflokkurinn founded May 1st

The founding meeting of Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands will be held this coming May 1st at Tjarnarbíó on Tjarnargata at four o'clock in the afternoon. At the meeting, the background to the founding of the party will be explained and the work ahead will be discussed.

Around 1250 people have already registered with Sósíalistaflokkurinn. All those who register before May 1st or at the founding meeting are considered founding members of the party.

Members have registered with the party under a short and simple manifesto which emphasizes that the party will strengthen class struggle so that the public gains power from the wealthy class and shapes society according to its needs.

“It is not the goal of Sósíalistaflokkurinn to become a party like the other parties,” says Gunnar Smári Egilsson, who has led the founding of the party. “Political work has declined, and many of these parties are merely party leadership in search of purpose or popularity. Sósíalistaflokkurinn will place all emphasis on assisting people in their struggle for improved living conditions, greater security, and increased rights, especially those groups who have suffered most from an unjust social system and the arrogance of capital.”

At the meeting, an interim board will be elected which will prepare a party congress in the autumn where the party's policy will be formulated. Until then, the party will build up diverse activities to support class struggle and the public's demands for a more just society.

The party's manifesto reads as follows:

Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands is a political party for the public in Iceland. Its goal is a society of freedom, equality, human dignity, and solidarity. These goals can only be achieved by transferring power into the hands of the people of the country.

Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands is a party for wage earners and all those who experience scarcity, invisibility, and powerlessness. The opponents of Sósíalistaflokks Íslands are capital and those who serve its interests. The platform of Sósíalistaflokks Íslands is a broad class struggle that rejects compromises and false dialogue.

In its work, Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands emphasizes what unites the people of the country; the injustice they face and the will to be free from it. All citizens are welcome to join the party, regardless of gender, origin, religion, or sexual orientation.

Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands wants the development of society to be guided by the interests of the public. Therefore, the public needs to gain power, not only over public institutions but also over their immediate environment. The workplace, the trade union, the school, the neighborhood, the municipality, the village – all these areas should be under decentralized governance where the interests of the people are paramount.

The first demands of Sósíalistaflokks Íslands are these:

1. Decent living conditions for all citizens, whether they are wage earners, unemployed, pensioners, students, or homemakers.
2. Access to safe and affordable housing.
3. Access to a free healthcare system, free education at all levels, and a free welfare system that meets the diverse needs of the people of the country.
4. Shortening of the work week, to improve the quality of life for the people of the country and enable them to become active participants in shaping society.
5. Restructuring of taxation with the aim that the wealthy class pays a fair share to public consumption while the burden is eased for others.