In the last few weeks the German states of Saxony, Thüringen and Brandenburg have held state elections. The result was dismal for the Pirate Parties who got only 1.1 – 1.5% of the votes. However they all still retain state funding which comes with an election result above 1%.

With the slogan of “Aufmischen einmischen!” (stir up, meddle in) the 881 Pirates of Saxony fought hard on Pirate and local issues but only managed to get half the number of votes they got in 2009.

Results Saxony 2014

• CDU 39.4%
• Left 18.9%
• SPD 12.4%
• FDP 3.8%
• Green 5.7
• NPD 4.95% (to be recounted, missing 808 votes for 5% hurdle)
• AfD 9.7%
• Pirates 1.1%

As in Brandenburg and Saxony the Thuringen Pirate concentrated on local and Pirate issues. The twin mottos; “What will change when the Pirates are in parliament?” and “Be brave – vote” However onlz 52% of the voters turned out to vote.

Results Thüringen 2014

•  CDU 33.5%
• DIE LINKE 28.2%
• SPD 12.4%
• AfD 10.6%
• Grüne 5.7%
• NPD 3.6%
• FDP 2.5%
• FW 1.7%
• Piraten 1.1%
• Die Partei 0.6%
• REP 0.2%
• KPD 0.1%

The Pirates in Brandenburg had not only to convince voters of their policies, which included transparency, citizen participation and education, they had to gather 2000 signatures so they could take part in the election. Interesting in this election is the low voter turnout 47.9% despite a low voting age of 16.

Results in Brandenburg

• SPD 31.9%
• CDU 23.0%
• DIE LINKE 18.6%
• AfD 12.2%
• Grüne 6.2%
• NPD 2.2%
•  FW 2.7%
• Piraten 1.5%
• REP 0.2%
• DKP 0.2%.
• FDP 1.5%

The main reason for the poor results was probably not due to their campaigning nor politics on local level.  They achieved several successes with their mandates in local governments.

The past few years have seen the public trust sink after  internal battles and scandals. The controversies and disagreements within the party, on a federal level, is being punished by voters on state level. It is incumbent on the national Party to get its act together, refrain from internal politicking and concentrate on enabling the Pirates to work for the German people. Anything else will further undermine the work that the state and local parties have achieved.

Featured image: CC BY-SA PPDE

About Josef Ohlsson Collentine

I’m a dual citizen (American/Swede) and try to integrate my reflections from a more global perspective if possible. I’m the organizational leader for Pirate Times and work actively to strengthen the pirate movement through this work as well as being the international contact for Piratpartiet (PPSE). Elected board member of PPSE for 2015-2018.
If you would like to ask me something I speak English, Swedish and Spanish. Find me on the links below

 

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In the last few weeks the German states of Saxony, Thüringen and Brandenburg have held state elections. The result was dismal for the Pirate Parties who got only 1.1 -…