Czech Pirate party is the first in the world to win a seat in national senate - Polidicks

News article by [URL]http://falkvinge.net/2012/10/21/pirate-parties-win-first-senators-seat-czech-win-international-race/]Falkvinge.net[/URL] [IMG]http://falkvinge.net/files/2012/10/file0001734650423-646x363.jpg[/IMG] [B] Czech Pirate Libor Michálek won his district’s election yesterday, and was thereby elected Senator. Michálek is a well-known fighter in the Czech Republic for transparency, human rights, and civil liberties, and was running for senate with the Czech Pirate Party. This also means that the Czech Pirate Party has won the international race to national-level legislatures. [/B] Libor Michálek was elected in a two-step election in the [I]Prague 2 and 3[/I] district, the most-watched district in all of the Czech Republic. Michálek ran on a Pirate ballot, but was also supported by the Greens and Christian Democrats. In the first step, he got 24% and qualified for a runoff with his primary opponent. In the runoff on October 19 and 20, he got almost 75% of the votes – thus getting elected senator, a first for the Pirate Party movement. The race for national parliaments between the Pirate Parties has been on since 2006, and it has remained uncertain which country’s Pirate Party would win it. In Sweden, the [I]Piratpartiet[/I] put two people in the European Parliament in 2009 (winning the race to international parliaments), but failed spectacularly in the next year’s national-level elections. Germany, a longstanding favorite, has its [I]Piratenpartei[/I] putting 45 people in state-level parliaments, but the national-level elections are not due for another year. In Netherlands, the Dutch [I]Piratenpartij[/I] missed a seat in the national legislature by a mere 0,3%. This race is now over, and the Czech [I]Pirátská Strana[/I] has won. From [URL="http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libor_Mich%C3%A1lek"]Czech Wikipedia[/URL], via [URL="http://piratetimes.net/czech-pp-celebrates-first-pirate-senator/"]Pirate Times[/URL]: [IMG]http://media.novinky.cz/636/246363-gallery1-uw94t.jpg[/IMG] Michálek is famous in his own country as a whistleblower for exposing corruption in 1996, when he worked for the National Property Fund. In 2010, his complaints about fraudulent manipulation of procurement and tendering led to the dismissal of ministers and top officials. In March 2011, he was awarded the [I]Endowment Fund Against Corruption[/I] Prize. In May 2011, he was awarded the [I]František Kriegel Award[/I] from Charter 77 for the outstanding achievements in the struggle for human rights and civil liberties. In July 2012, he announced that he would stand for the Senate in District 26 as a Pirate. He went on to win the first round with 24.3% of the votes. In the second round, he was elected senator with 74.4% of the votes. --------- He was a candidate in my district. I voted for him. Huzzah! :D

Sounds like a cool dude. A politician that's actually transparent, now there's a miracle.

He looks like putin and medvedevs love child

Invade Czechoslovakia immediately and overthrow this dictator before he steals any more artists' property

He looks like a James Bond villain, jeez.

[QUOTE=smurfy;38127835]Invade Czechoslovakia immediately and overthrow this dictator before he steals any more artists' property[/QUOTE] I find this highly offensive, rude, bigoted and stereotypical. It's the Czech Republic, not Czechoslovakia!

why are they called pirates?

When I clicked on this thread I pictured a guy in the whole swashbuckling tricorne eyepatch pegleg getup sitting next to a bunch of politicians in really fancy suits. I'm disappointed.

That guy looks like a mafia member.

[QUOTE=Xenak;38134035]When I clicked on this thread I pictured a guy in the whole swashbuckling tricorne eyepatch pegleg getup sitting next to a bunch of politicians in really fancy suits. I'm disappointed.[/QUOTE] That's the True Pirate Party. nobody voted for us :(

Woo Pirates. Not elected in the US yet, but this is a start :)

[QUOTE=Native Hunter;38136182]Woo Pirates. Not elected in the US yet, but this is a start :)[/QUOTE] Its either republican or democrat in the US, give or take one independent that nobody really cares about.

[QUOTE=ThePinkPanzer;38128272]He looks like a James Bond villain, jeez.[/QUOTE] WAIT NO you know who he looks like? He looks like Burn Gorman's slightly twin brother. [img]http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTenOjJo7bTig6u02w8sChMTGeIRgIi3rYN9Y9wB12p32nm5caCIQ[/img]

Well he was sort of canditating for a three party coalition. I think Pirates, christian democroaotso and greens. Not sure who brought him forward. EDIT Also it's a senate mandate so the far less powerfull part of the parliament. The house of delegates is essentially the important one. The senate acts more as a correction institute. And if things go as they've gone until now we might get preterm votes around the beginning of next year.

[QUOTE=wraithcat;38138075]Well he was sort of canditating for a three party coalition. I think Pirates, christian democroaotso and greens. Not sure who brought him forward. EDIT Also it's a senate mandate so the far less powerfull part of the parliament. The house of delegates is essentially the important one. The senate acts more as a correction institute. And if things go as they've gone until now we might get preterm votes around the beginning of next year.[/QUOTE] Senate seat is very important as well for multiple reasons: 1. As a senator, he has much more administrative power at making official inquiries on other senators AS WELL AS members of house of delegates. He promises to fight corruption. From his position of a senator, he will be much more dangerous for everyone in the government who might be corrupt. 2. The [I]party[/I] who wrote him into the election (Pirates) will get like 850000 CZK (45000 USD) yearly for holding the seat, for the 6 years his mandate will last, which means they will have a not so little source of money for self propagation which will give them much better position in next elections. 3. If he does well in the senate, makes himself heard, perhaps even uncovers another case of corruption, people will gain faith in the party as well as minor parties in general (which is much needed, after the VV debacle).