On 10 – 12 May 2013 the General Assembly of the German Pirate Party will take place in Neumarkt . This GA will mainly be focused on party policies in order to prepare for the elections in September.

But it won’t be only about party policies, it will also be about statue changes needed in order elect a few new members board. Two former members of the board have already resigned and a third member of the board will resign at the GA.
Important motions for the GA are those concerning the establishment of a permanent online GA in order to pass policies quicker and to enhance the democratic processes within the German Pirate Party.

The first day of the GA will be about statute changes needed to re-elect members of the board. This became necessary after Matthias Schrade and Julia Schramm resigned from the board. A while after that Johannes Ponader, the controversial political director, announced that he will also resign at the GA. Therefore the GA will decide on motions on by-elections and de-election of certain board members. Furthermore a few motions about the constiturion of the board have been presented. Only after the GA has voted for a motion to enable by-elections, will the GA will be able to vote new members to the board.

On the second and third day the GA will vote on motions about party policies and statutes. A few of the most important motions to change the statutes are the motions about a permanent online GA. A very controversial topic within the party which would enable the party to pass new policies faster in order to react to current developments. It also would enable more party members to actually give a binding vote, which is important in order to integrate every members in the democratic processes of the party as not everybody can travel to the physical GA’s. Alternatively there is a discussion as to whether systems like this are necessary and if an electronic system can be trusted. It also raises questions about the privacy of party members on the one hand and the transparency and validity of the vote on the other hand.

For the International Pirate Movement motions about Europe and the EU might be interesting. There is a motion about transparency and democratic control for the ESM, another motion on the abolition of daylight saving time followed by a related on whether they want daylight saving time permanently or not (UTC+1 or UTC+2). Furthermore there is a motion with various parts concerning democracy in the EU, the European economy and currency union, European energy politics, a digital agenda for Europe, European security policies and also European traffic policies.

With federal elections in September this year, the German Pirate Party slumping badly in the polls and looks very much like missing out on being the second nation, after Iceland, to elect representatives to a national parliament.  This might be the last opportunity for them to turn things around, unite and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. In any case Pirates worldwide need to pay close attention to how PPDE fares and to learn from what they do wrong and what they do right.

The Pirate Times will be there in Neumarkt keeping you informed. The twitter hashtags for the GA are #bpt131 and #frapira.

UPDATE: A live stream is also available.

Featured image: CC BY – SG Gestaltung

About Daniel Ebbert

I’m a pirate from Germany but I live in the Netherlands to study there when I’m not travelling, which happens quite often. I’m a member of the Pirate Party Germany since 2009 and of the Pirate Party of the Netherlands since 2012.
Picture: CC-BY 3.0 Tobias M. Eckrich

 

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On 10 – 12 May 2013 the General Assembly of the German Pirate Party will take place in Neumarkt . This GA will mainly be focused on party policies in…