Pirate Party Time

Three days ago, members of the Pirate Party were celebrating their victory in a disco in Berlin. The party managed to win 8.9% of voter support in Berlin, 3.9% more than necessary to win seats in the German parliament. This marks the first time that a new German political party has managed to do so since the Green Party in the 1980’s.

Now, you’re probably wondering what the Pirate Party is all about. It isn’t some Internet phenomenon type of joke, but rather a leftist party mainly centered on Internet freedom. The Pirate Party also advocates internet transparency, the installation of a minimum wage, and the legalization of “soft” drugs.

Lead candidate Andreas Baum admitted that they were amateurs, even saying that they didn’t even have business cards yet. Their entire campaign was viewed as somewhat of a joke; with few expecting them to overcome the 5% vote necessary to win seats in parliament. This was especially evident in their campaign, with their often humorous posters and slogans, proclaiming things such as: “Privatize religion”. 

Members of the Pirate Party celebrating in Berlin

In response to hearing the news, pretty much all other political parties in Germany (especially the Green Party and the Social Democrats) expressed outrage, arguing that voters only elected the Pirate Party out of protest and that they were far too unprofessional. In my opinion, if the people are in fact so dissatisfied with their current political party, it seems more than reasonable for them to voice their protest by voting  a more progressive and liberal political party into office. Even though this party should not be taken too seriously seeing that it does not really even have an official platform, it is still astounding that they managed to attain almost 10% of the popular vote in Berlin and thereby buy themselves a ticket to the German parliament.

Sebastian Nerz, the leader of the Pirate Party, on the other hand, simply called the historic moment "cool" in front of television cameras.