Pirate Party of Berlin
Pirate Party of Berlin Piratenpartei Berlin | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Gerhard Anger |
| Founded | 30 December 2006 |
| Youth wing | Young Pirates |
| Membership | 3,727[1] (27 July 2012) |
| Ideology | Pirate politics Direct democracy |
| National affiliation | Pirate Party Germany |
| International affiliation | Pirate Parties International |
| Colours | Orange |
The Pirate Party Berlin (German: Piratenpartei Berlin) is the state chapter of the Pirate Party Germany in the city-state of Berlin and was the first chapter of the Pirates to enter a Landtag, or state parliament. Gerhard Anger was again elected to be the State Chairperson of the party on 15 September 2012, his predecessor Hartmut Semken having stepped down on 16 May 2012 after replacing Anger as the Chairperson on 25 February 2012. Since the beginning of 2011, Anger was the Chairperson of the Berlin Pirates; before that, Andreas Baum held that position since 2008. The party splits itself into so-called Crews, which are organizing units at the local level. Work groups on specific themes were formed into so-called Squads.[2] Since 2010, the national association uses the software LiquidFeedback for intra-party decision-making.[3]
History
| Election | % | |
|---|---|---|
| European Parliament 2009 | 1.4 | |
| German federal election, 2009 | 3.4 | |
| Borough Assembly elections, 2011 | 8.5 | |
| Berlin state election, 2011 | 8.9 | |
The state chapter was founded 30 December 2006. During the 2009 federal election, the Berlin Pirate Party received 3.4 percent of the votes, which was their best showing at the national level. During the 2011 Berlin state election, the party entered a state parliament for the first time when they received 8.9 percent of the votes for the state parliament of Berlin. Lead candidate of the party list, Andreas Baum, was thus given a seat.[4]
Program
One of the main concerns of the Pirate Party at the country level is transparency in politics and public administration. Meetings of the group in the Berlin parliament are streamed live on the internet and are also available for download.
The Berlin Pirate Party advocates the promotion of alternative residential projects and cultural institutions as well as the preservation of open spaces in inner-city areas. It is also against the so-called "Berlin line," which is a regulation against house squatting. [5] The party is also in favor of a ticket-less transport system in the capital.[6] The "Referendum on Disclosing Partial Privatizations of the Berlin Waterworks" (Volksentscheid über die Offenlegung der Teilprivatisierungsverträge bei den Berliner Wasserbetrieben) is supported by the Berlin Pirates. For Berlin schools, the party also supports ethical education on drug use under the model of "Drug Maturity".[7] The party also wants to eliminate the minimum voting age for Berlin state parliament elections. Three chapters of their party's basic program are devoted to animal welfare.[8]
Representatives in the state parliament
In the state parliament of Berlin (Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin), all 15 Pirate Party candidates (14 men and 1 woman) were elected directly through their mandate. Of the parties in the state parliament, the Pirates have the lowest percentage of female representatives, with only 6.6 percent.
Because of double candidacies, three seats in the Borough Assembly (BVV) in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg could not be filled. Because of this, the pirates could not take city council posts for which they were eligible.[9][10]
Representatives in Borough Assemblies
The Pirate Party is represented in all 12 borough assemblies in Berlin. In five assembles, the pirates cannot fully occupy their allocated seats because there were not enough candidates on their list of nominees. The following table shows the number of seats per district and, in parentheses, the number of vacant seats:
 Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf |
 Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg |
 Lichtenberg |
 Marzahn-Hellersdorf |
 Mitte |
 Neukölln |
 Pankow |
 Reinickendorf |
 Spandau |
 Zehlendorf |
 Schöneberg |
 Köpenick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 5 (+4) | 5 | 4 (+1) | 4 (+2) | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 (+1) | 3 | 4 | 4 (+1) |
See also
External links
References
- ^ Mitglieder nach Landesverband
- ^ Crew Concept, Pirate Party Germany, State Chapter Berlin
- ^ Information about LiquidDemocracy on the wiki of the Pirate Party
- ^ "Die Landeswahlleiterin für Berlin - Berliner Wahlen 2011 - Ergebnisse nach Regionen - Zweitstimmen - Ergebnistabelle". wahlen-berlin.de. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ^ Urban development in the 2011 electoral program of the Pirate Party Berlin
- ^ Traffic in the 2011 electoral program of the Pirate Party Berlin
- ^ Addiction policy in the 2011 electoral program of the Pirate Party Berlin
- ^ Animal Welfare in the basic program of the Pirate Party Berlin
- ^ Article: A city council for Pirates and the Left (Ein Stadtrat für Piraten und Linke), published in Berliner Zeitung 21 September 2011, and accessed 11 March 2013.
- ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung; Article: In the Net of Pirates (Im Netz der Piraten), published 25 September 2011