Andrés Ingi Jónsson | |
Order: | Member of Parliament for Reykjavík North |
Term Start: | 29 October 2016 |
Birth Date: | 16 August 1979 |
Birth Place: | Reykjavík, Iceland |
Alma Mater: | University of Sussex, University of Iceland |
Party: | Pirate Party |
Andrés Ingi Jónsson (born 16 August 1979) is an Icelandic MP, representing Reykjavík North as a member of the Pirate Party. He was first elected to the Alþingi in 2016 as a member of the Left-Green Movement and again in 2017, later leaving the party in protest.[1]
He has an MA in War, Violence and Security from the University of Sussex and a BA in Philosophy from the University of Iceland. After his studies, he worked as a journalist and a committee secretary for the Constitutional Council.
Andrés Ingi joined the Left-Green Movement during the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests and took a seat on the party's ticket for the 2009 elections.[2] During the time of the 2009-2013 left-wing government, Andrés worked as the political advisor to both the Minister of Health and the Minister for the Environment. He first took a temporary seat in parliament in the summer of 2015, as a substitute for Steinunn Þóra Árnadóttir, later winning a permanent seat in the 2016 elections.
In April 2019, Andrés proposed a bill to hold a referendum on withdrawal from NATO membership.[3] In late-2019, he left the party in protest over the government coalition agreement, stating that "often compromises have fallen far short of our ideals."[4]
In October 2020, he proposed a bill to lower the voting age in Iceland to 16.[5] In November 2020, he announced he would be introducing a bill to lower the speed limit in urban areas from 50 km/h to 30 km/h.[6] In December 2020, he proposed a bill to make menstrual products free in Iceland. The bill was defeated in Parliament by a vote of 27 against to 26 for.[7]
In January 2021, he called to amend the law on gender recognition to abolish the 9,000 ISK fee.[8] Later that month, he supported a bill that would have made Holocaust denial illegal in Iceland.[9] After sitting as an independent for a year and a half, he joined the Pirate Party in February 2021.[10] In May 2021, he criticised the Directorate of Immigration for evicting refugees who had refused to participate in pre-deportation COVID screening from refugee centres.[11]