Germany's Pirate Party Celebrates Historic Victory

[reorg]

Source: Der Spiegel

As Berlin election results came in on Sunday evening, sweaty members of the Pirate Party danced arm in arm beneath a disco ball at popular club in the city's Kreuzberg district. The smell of marijuana spread through the informal party, where guests made their own sandwiches and drank bottled beer.

"I can't believe it," said newly elected parliamentarian Christopher Lauer as he fell onto a sofa, sending a message of thanks out via his Twitter account for the 8.9 percent of voter support. "It is breathtaking, a surreal feeling, because there is nothing that compares to this." ...

Indeed, the support for the party -- founded in 2006 on a civil liberties platform that focused on Internet freedoms -- was sensational. Not only will the Pirate Party enter a regional government for the first time, but its results far surpassed the five percent hurdle needed for parliamentary representation. The success was so unexpected that the party had only put 15 candidates on its list of nominations. Had their support been just a little higher, some of their seats would have remained empty because post-election nominations of candidates isn't allowed.

Read more: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,787044,00.html

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Just a "protest party" or are they here to stay? It may well be the latter. Hopefully it will take a while before they abandon their principles and join the suit-and-ties.



'Ready for change': Pirate Party is the real winner in Berlin state election

[AndyTiedye]

1. And on "Talk Like a Pirate" Day, Too

Arrrr!

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Do you know how to say Arrrrr! in German?

Arrrrr!

[Synicus Maximus]

4. dir Arrrr

[Kaleko]

5. Jarrrr natürlich.

[Kolesar]

6. Yeah. I got that email from my friend today

Hoist mains'l!

[reggie the dog]

3. remember that in berlin state cannabis is legal

you can have 10 grams with no risk of confiscation or fine and many cafés sell weed and hash 'under the table' so the part about pot smoke in the article is not as rebellious as it may sound

[Kaleko]

7. Check out one of the T-shirts newly elected members of the Pirate Party are wearing.

"Why am I actually hanging around here?" Berlin Tour 2011
____________________________________________
Why are we actually doing this shit?
_____________________________________________
Understanding instead of Indoctrination
NETS IN USER HANDS
Privatize Religion Now
We are the ones with the questions, You're the ones with the answers
_____________________*______________________________________________

I want to love as I am
Just ask your kids why they're voting for Pirates
Addiction politics instead of drug wars
Voting rights for all Berliners
____________________*_______________________________________________

847,870 voters like this
Minimum wage is a bridge technology
This secret contract isn't available in your town
DEMOCRACY TRANSPARENCY CIVIL RIGHTS