Since the end of July, the pirate party has had enough signatures to participate in the parliamentary elections on September 12, 2012. All parties had to submit 40 signatures per constituency before August 1, and the pirates narrowly succeeded in doing so. Analysts and election pollsters take the Pirate Party seriously, as a party that will not be a one-hit wonder. This article provides a brief introduction to the party and its positions. The Dutch Pirate Party was founded on March 10, 2010. The pirates are participating in the Netherlands for the second time. In the first elections in June 2010, the party received 10,471 votes. Not nearly enough for a seat.
There are eleven candidates on the list for the House of Representatives elections. The leader of the previous elections Samir Allioui is serving as the list pusher this time. The party leader is Dirk-Willem Poot, a business expert (N yenrode) and independent IT consultant, who was number four in the 2010 elections.
The candidate list:
- Dirk Poot
- Danny Palic
- Rodger van Doorn
- Patrick Lesparre
- Catherine Bethlehem
- David van Deijk
- Roberto Moretti
- Jan Hopmans
- Dylan Hallegraef
- Mark Jansen
- Samir Allioui
International
The party is already represented in parliament in Germany and Sweden. There is a Pirate Party in almost all European countries. They are all members of the Pirate Parties International. The German party is in the parliament of four states. The Swedish Pirates can count on 7 percent of the votes and in terms of membership the party is the third largest political party in Sweden.
Themes
The Pirate Party is a theme party. They are mainly committed to civil rights and a free internet. More precisely, the party focuses on civil rights, privacy and the reform of copyright and patent law in the digital environment, such as the Internet. The party is also committed to the knowledge economy. Critics call the party a populist one-issue party. The pirates themselves say that focusing on topics is essential to achieving those points. Furthermore, it is not a party of positions but of ideas. Below you can read the party’s positions for the 2012 elections.
The positions 2012
The government must be more open and make more use of the internet
The government must regulate more via the internet. Citizens should be able to contact the government more easily via the internet. Furthermore, the Pirate Party strives for an internet democracy. People should be able to follow politics down to the backroom via the internet if it is up to the pirates. In any case, people want to be able to vote via the internet as soon as possible.
Guarantee citizens’ privacy
This means that the government may not unnecessarily infringe on the privacy of investigative services. Only solving a specific crime serves as an excuse to violate privacy. The party also wants fewer cameras in public spaces. They also infringe on privacy.
Monitoring an independent and comprehensive information provision
The population must be independently informed through various information channels. The party mentions TV, newspaper and internet. Furthermore, the party supports accessible education and healthcare for everyone at all times.
Confidential data should be stored more securely and used more carefully
There should be fines for data breaches. In fact, very sensitive data should rarely be stored anyway.
Sharing culture and information must be promoted
To achieve this, copyright must first be reformed. Downloading for personal use should also be legal. According to the Pirate Party, enforcement of the download ban is at the expense of many civil rights.
Reform the patent system to promote innovation and knowledge sharing
By reforming patent law, healthcare can be cheaper and better. Pharmaceutical companies will then have to supply medicines more cheaply, which will significantly reduce healthcare costs. The Pirate Party also wants to abolish software patents in order to stimulate innovation and free information provision in the economy.