German Federal General Assembly: A new board must be found | PirateTimes

This weekend 27-29 June 2014 the Pirates of Germany are being called to gather in the city of Halle in Saxony-Anhalt for a general assembly. Halle is situated near the old border between East and West Germany and this serves as an analogy for the divide that is unsettling the federal Party.

In a previous article I analysed the crisis that led to half of the federal board resigning and the intention of the remaining members not to stand for reelection. The entire board must be replaced which can lead to a loss of institutional memory. The new board might find itself  having to learn everything from scratch. Hopefully previous board members will be available to help the new members find their way.

This means that the Pirates will have to seek to reach compromises that will not be easy to attain if they want leaders that will not be the targets of trolling and political blackmail from various factions of the party. The Pirates must show that, even though open and transparent democracy is not pretty, it works.

However it is not all doom and gloom in the Pirate Party of Germany, as the German press will have you believe. At local and regional levels there is hard work being done by Pirates. Stammtisches (local meetings) are still being regularly held and they are bringing the Pirate message to the people in their community.  Also there are many Pirates in state legislatures and municipal councils representing their electorates. The Pirate Party of North Rhine Westfalia is still the biggest Pirate Party by representation in the world. A heavy burden rests on these representatives. They must demonstrate that Pirates can be a real force for change in politics.

The Pirate Times joins with Pirates around the world in wishing PPDE a harmonious and successful Assembly in Halle.

Featured image: PPDE CC BY 3.0

About Andrew Reitemeyer

I joined the Pirate Party of Lower Saxony in Germany in April 2012, once I found out that non citizens were welcome to join and become active members of the Party.
I joined the Pirate Times soon after it was started as a proof reader and am now an editor and author. Since then I have returned to my native New Zealand and joined the Pirate Party of New Zealand.
Politically I come from the libertarian left and have, up to now, not regarded any political party as having a solution for the democratic deficit that envelops the world. With the advent of the Pirate Party, which truly embraces grass roots democracy, I have found a political home. The Pirate Times is a way I can contribute to furthering the Pirate Movement around the world.
Skype: frithogar

 

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This weekend 27-29 June 2014 the Pirates of Germany are being called to gather in the city of Halle in Saxony-Anhalt for a general assembly. Halle is situated near the…