Pirates' Strong Showing in Berlin Elections Surprises Even Them
Last Sunday's elections in Berlin brought many surprises in the city-state's political arena: not only the crash suffered by Angela Merkel's party, the Christian Democrats, but also the unexpected "victory" of the Pirate Party.
The Pirates won 8.9 percent of the vote and all 15 candidates on their lists obtained seats, surprising even them.
Regarding to their program, which at first was only based on file sharing, data protection and online privacy, they have also included social issues as well as the promise of using the Internet as a tool to give more power to the people: giving party members what they call "liquid democracy"- a form of participation beyond only voting in elections.
The question now is whether this new party is just a focus of protests, a joke or the reflection of the electoral disgust with all established electoral parties; or a new experiment in a new form of online democracy.
While the Pirates were celebrating the result in a club in Kreuzberg, other politicians and scholars made their first comments about this new and still small political force.
Some of them see the party as something serious and important for the future, while others made the first critics, such as Berlin's Mayor Karl Wowereit's comment on gender politics and the Pirate Party, which is only composed by white young men. However, the Pirates are working to solve this.
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Last summer, some of the participants of this blog and I attended a curse in Berlin. We were surprised to find this new group- the Pirate Party- through the publicity made for the elections.
That is one of the reasons why I choose this article. It is interesting to know that this party, which at first sounded funny, has obtained a big support among the Berliners.
I would have my doubts about a party like this winning in some other cities, however, berlin has this atmosphere and mixture of people that make sit a unique city, where it doesn't seem that difficult to see the Pirate Party obtaining seats for all their candidates the first time they run for elections.
Another important reflection that could be extracted from this article is the creation of new small parties that want to represent people's will and values. In my opinion, that is a sign of a healthy democracy. It is easier to find yourself identified with politics if there are more principles and ideas offered by more than one or two parties. It is necessary to bring new ideas, above all during this period of crisis.
As Teresa, I was also in Berlin this summer, and it was easy to feel this different atmosphere on Politics Issues. People seem to be more interested and more participant. In my opinion the existence of several political parties is a reflection of a true democracy and people’s will to change things. The fact that small parties can develop and reach elections denotes this will from people to go for their own believes if they don’t like the existing options.
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ReplyDeleteI have found this article very interesting and, above all, different. A Pirate Party in Berlin sounds a bit controversial from my point of view but, as I have not been to Berlin and from what has already been commented on this article I guess there is a very different political environment from what we are used to seeing here in Spain.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that they gained such recognition but, as Ana said, I think it is great that they did because it shows the power of democracy in action.
They have different objectives to other parties which is something that is good to have, specially in a democratic system, where people can choose what they prefer, and to find what they agree with, more options are necessary and this is obviously one of them.
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ReplyDeleteBerlin is becoming more and more liberal and a very multicultural city. It's young, modern and very changing. I don't think that the CDU, a party with familiar and more "conservative" values could represent the Berliner's spirit. Therefore, I am not surprised with the results and the fact that the Pirates go celebrate it in Kreuzberg (the turkish quarter) shows the changes and the multiculturalism that the city experiences day a day.
ReplyDeleteHaving third parties really shows that a democracy is taking place as it allows for a more varied choice of candidates for voters with a wider range of political manifestations and therefore better discussions of national problems. However, these third parties sometimes, in theory, do not gain success, and in the end, the CDU or the SPD are the most voted for. With the surprised triumph of the Pirates, Germany can choose more freely what to choose in a political panorama that provides fresh ideas and new candidates.
ReplyDeleteI think this party is a reaction against the common disagreement with the main parties. It is not that citizens can see themselves represented by the Pirate Party but it is the only way they can express their opposition to the other ones. Spain experienced something similar in the past elections with UPD, a small and young party taking both conservative and liberal political views and trying to make the best out of it. It was an option for people who disagreed with both PP and PSOE management proposals, and it certainly worked better than expected, as the so-called "Pirate Party".
ReplyDeleteThe case of UPyD and the Pirate Party are quite different. UPyD is a party with an specific program for a wide range of policies, from economy to environment, while the Pirate Party has just a couple of ideas of how should we regulate the Internet, but unable to rule a country. In Spain we have experienced similar parties like the Partido del Cannabis, a party for the legalization of marihuana without any other political objective. They constitute the expression of the disgust of the people with the political class, but they are not a real alternative to any of the major parties.
ReplyDeleteSo they actually won!, I think it is for the better that there is this political change. I consider it the response of people who are tired with the old political parties and the same old promises, it is time to take things as they are and berliners focused on being able to participate more in the political life of their home state. I agree in that this minority parties would not achieve such a success, but it might as well be the prelude of a change in the political activities around Europe, who knows!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do not share the values that the Pirate Party seems to represent, I do believe that their victory in Berlin can act as an example of the need for a more pluralistic democracy. Berliners have showed their need for a change - we will just have to wait and see if they can act as a true alternative to the more traditional parties.
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