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Piratenpartei Berlin On Final Approach To Election Victory

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Pirate Parties

Pirate Parties

Today, a poll was published in Germany that catapults Piratenpartei Berlin right on track to a smashing parliamentary election victory one month from now.

The poll gives the Piratenpartei 4.5% of the popular vote, with 5.0% needed for entry into Parliament on September 18. This would be the first time a Pirate Party had entered a national- or state-level Parliament. The Pirates have seats in the European Parliament and on many local councils across Europe, but not yet at the national or state level.

While four-and-a-half per cent isn’t five, the situation after the surprise numbers in the poll is what creates the “on final approach” scenario. Newspapers are now describing the Pirate Party as “the likely surprise of this election”. There are positive articles everywhere describing it as just short of a done deal, and I predict this will have an immense effect in the polls in the four remaining weeks.

“Pirate Party Has Tail Winds”Deutschland Today

“Pirate Party On Course For Parliament”Taz.de

This was the exact situation for the Piratpartiet in Sweden four weeks before the European Elections in 2009. The first poll for the European Elections came out four weeks ahead of the election with the Pirate Party fresh at 5%, just above the threshold. The Pirate Party was described as the likely sensation of the election night for four weeks straight, and that’s also what happened, with the final vote at 7.1%, polls climbing week by week.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that success is inevitable, but it does mean that the goal is in sight up ahead and that every activist’s extra mile now has more effect than ever. So while a lot of hard work remains, it is now 90% likely that pirates from Berlin will enter Parliament on September 18. For myself, I am booking plane tickets to Berlin and hope to be able to assist in the last critical days and, if possible, attend the election night dinner. I’ve been to one victory dinner before, and it’s really the memory of a lifetime.

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About The Author: Rick Falkvinge

Rick is the founder of the first Pirate Party and is a political evangelist, traveling around Europe and the world to talk and write about ideas of a sensible information policy. He has a tech entrepreneur background and loves whisky.

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Contributors take own responsibility for their comments.

24

  1. 1

    Well this sure as hell came right out of nowhere. I knew that PPDE was having better luck gaining traction on the national level than we’ve had here in Sweden, and that they’ve been gaining seats in local elections over the last two years or so, but I had no idea they had this much support. I was under the impression that they were hovering around 2-3%, at the very most.

    I guess one should have been able to see it coming though, considering how fascinatingly fast pirates can be in mobilising before an election. Awesome news, anyhow.

    I wonder how this will affect us in Sweden, BTW. I’ve always been under the impression that PPSE was much bigger abroad than domestically, and if the same phenomenon manifests itself around PPDE, it should, ironically, give more media-attention to PPSE than we can achieve ourselves.

    • 1.1
      Christoffer

      You are right that the German Pirate Party hovers around 2% nationally. But Berlin is a city state and also one of their strongholds. They aschieved 3,4% in Berlin in the 2009 Bundstag election for instance, well above the 2% they earned nationally.

      Anways, lets keep our fingers crossed for the German pirates. Hopefully, they will make this.

  2. 2
    Daniel

    Fantastic news! :-)))

  3. 3
    Henrik

    Extremely happy to see this. Hopefully they start to gain those pesky voters that “don’t wanna throw away my vote” now when they see PPDE is on the approach, and can get in if they get those votes.
    I certainly also hope this will give PPSE a whole new level of media attention in Sweden in the next election.

    And also, wasn’t it PPDE that got their servers shut down, or raided or something a few months back because of some non related copyright issue resided on those servers?

  4. 4

    Just coming back from Berlin where I saw plenty of ads for the Pirate Party. One catched my attention “Privatize Religion”. At that point, I felt so connected, so deeply a pirate myself. I hope that the belgian Pirate Party will also succeed.

  5. 5

    “Privatize Religion” — Awesome!!! After German (successful) elections I should consider pushing Serbian pirates into election race at last!

  6. 6

    Wait, how do you privatise religion?

    • 6.1

      How to privatize religion: by a strict separation of churches and state. Treat protestants, catholics the same as muslims, buddhists. End the “church tax” system where money for some religious entities is collected by the state. Phase out subsidies to some religious entities. Etc. etc. – there is much to do, and it will be hard. But it is a clear political line. I am a pirate, and I support this.

  7. 7
    Simon

    In fact “privatize religion” should not be seen from an economic view. It’s a privacy protection statement!

  8. 8
    jeffer

    Religion is immaterial, like copyright and patent. So perhaps copyright and patent is also religion of some sort, This could explain the fanaticism of the copyright lobby etc.. Internet is then a counter-religion like Protestantism vs the Catholic Church. This could excalate to new wars of “religion” with irreconcilable dogma and axioms.. Maybe the solution is the secularization of internet. – religious freedom for all.

    The worship of copyright and patent is up to the individual’s private conscience just like in other religious matters…

  9. 9

    And even if they don’t make it. Reaching 4,5% alone would be tremendous and a boost for the Pirates, not only in Germany.

    Berlin has always been a progressive city, which is of course open to progressive ideas like ours.

    Kind Regards
    Aleks

  10. [...] eine Welle der Eupho­rie die Mit­glie­der der Pira­ten­par­tei Deutsch­land, aber auch die Pira­ten welt­weit, erfasst. Ein Ruck erfasst mich für eine Idee, die Idee einer freien, offen Gesell­schaft und es [...]

  11. [...] eine Welle der Eupho­rie die Mit­glie­der der Pira­ten­par­tei Deutsch­land, aber auch die Pira­ten welt­weit, erfasst. Ein Ruck erfasst mich für eine Idee, die Idee einer freien, offen Gesell­schaft und es [...]

  12. [...] “Newspapers are now describing the Pirate Party as ‘the likely surprise of this election’. There are positive articles everywhere describing it as just short of a done deal, and I predict this will have an immense effect in the polls in the four remaining weeks,” Falkvinge says. [...]

  13. [...] “Newspapers are now describing a Pirate Party as ‘the expected warn of this election’. There are certain articles everywhere describing it as usually brief of a finished deal, and we envision this will have an measureless outcome in a polls in a 4 remaining weeks,” Falkvinge says. [...]

  14. [...] Tyskland så är det delstatsval just nu och Piratpartiet Berlin har en opinionsundersökning fått 4.5% av rösterna och behöver bara 5% för att komma in i delstaten. Uppenbarligen så är integritetsfrågan mycket [...]

  15. [...] “Newspapers are now describing a Pirate Party as ‘the expected warn of this election’. There are certain articles everywhere describing it as usually brief of a finished deal, and we envision this will have an measureless outcome in a polls in a 4 remaining weeks,” Falkvinge says. [...]

  16. 10
    MPAsuxx

    Fantastic news ! My vote will be part of our victory :-) !

  17. [...] “Newspapers are now describing the Pirate Party as ‘the likely surprise of this election’. There are positive articles everywhere describing it as just short of a done deal, and I predict this will have an immense effect in the polls in the four remaining weeks,” Falkvinge says. [...]

  18. [...] och söndagen därpå, den 18:e är det berlinarnas tur. Om utsikterna inför det valet  har Rick bloggat tidigare. Igår hade Berliner Morgenpost (CDU) en intervju med förstanamnet Andreas Baum. Tyvärr [...]

  19. [...] “Newspapers are now describing the Pirate Party as ‘the likely surprise of this election’. There are positive articles everywhere describing it as just short of a done deal, and I predict this will have an immense effect in the polls in the four remaining weeks,” Falkvinge says. [...]

  20. 11
    DonDunkel

    Hej hej! Nyaste rundfrågorna är även bättre!

    Recent surveys see the Pirate Party of Berlin even at 5,5% to 9%, with 9% being the most recent prognosis.

    http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/landtage/berlin.htm

    For those who don’t know any German: The first column displays the institute which did the survey, the second one who ordered the survey to be made. The third represents the number of people who were asked. The fourth the date it was published. The columns 5 to 9 are the main parties (christian democrats (kristdemokraterna, chancellor merkel’s party), social democrats (socialdemokraterna), greens (miljöpartiet), (economical) liberals (folkpatiet liberalerna?, foreign laughing stock minister Westerwelle’s party), left party (vänsterpartiet). Coulumn 10 displays the others, with Piraten obviously meaning pirate party, NPD being the right wing party (Sverigedemokraterna?) and “Sonstige” meaning others.

    Jag hoppas att vi ska skapa det!

    Hälsningar
    DonDunkel

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About The Author

Rick is the founder of the first Pirate Party and is a political evangelist, traveling around Europe and the world to talk and write about ideas of a sensible information policy. He has a tech entrepreneur background and loves whisky.

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