Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Pirate Party Wins Seat In Berlin

Posted by samzenpus on from the walking-the-plank-of-the-people dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Pirate Party won its first seat in the Berlin state elections with almost 9% of the vote. From the article: '"We will get right to work," top Pirate candidate, Andreas Baum, told ZDF television. "This is all new for us."'"

4 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. Not just one by BitterKraut · · Score: 5, Informative

    Chances are that everyone on their list, which comprised only 15 candidates, will win a seat in the Berlin senate.

  2. Re:Dear Pirate Party: by Tom · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you had actually read the statements of the german Pirate Party, you'd know their position is not one of "screw the creators, everything free for everyone", but quite a bit more thought-out. Go read it.

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  3. Re:Dear Pirate Party: by Adrian+Lopez · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Stop screwing creators.

    Tell that to the music labels.

    --
    "In prison you just have to shut your eyes and take it. Here you have to shut your eyes and give it."
  4. big win by Tom · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is a huge win for the german Pirate Party, as it puts it on the radar of all the mainstream press, even those that tried to ignore it so far.

    By this time tomorrow, everyone in Germany will have heard about the Pirate Party. That one of the old, established parties has been decisively kicked from parliament (~2% of the votes, with 5% being required to enter parliament) only strengthens this perception, as the Pirate Party is called a "replacement" in some circles - the party kicked out is the Liberal party, which aside from being strictly capitalistic also used to ride on the tickets of things like freedom, liberty, individualism - stuff that is close to the Pirates as well.

    Also, the PP has gotten through other important barriers straight away: They're officially a faction, with all the rights (an office in the parliament building, etc.) of the old parties. It will be receiving campaign money (Germany has a system where the parties receive tax money to cover their expenses during the campaigns, based on the number of votes they got, but you need a certain amount to receive any at all. The purpose of the system is to make sure not only the rich can afford campaigns, and parties don't need to rely on contributions from lobbyists/companies/etc. to campaign).

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org