Czech Pirate Party

The Czech Pirate Party (Czech: Česká pirátská strana) or Pirates (Czech: Piráti)[1] is a liberal political party in the Czech Republic, founded in 2009. Following the 2017 legislative election, it is the third largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, with 22 out of 200 seats.[13] The parliamentary party sits in opposition to the ruling cabinet and party leader Ivan Bartoš serves as the chairman of the Committee on Public Administration and Regional Development.[14] The party is represented by three Members of the Senate of the Czech Republic, the most recently elected being Lukáš Wagenknecht in 2018. That same year, the party entered a number of municipal assemblies and formed a governing coalition in the Prague City Assembly, with Zdeněk Hřib becoming the Mayor of Prague. In the 2019 European election, the party gained three MEPs, joined the Greens–European Free Alliance parliamentary group and campaign leader Marcel Kolaja was elected one of fourteen Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament.

Czech Pirate Party

Česká pirátská strana
LeaderIvan Bartoš
Deputy LeadersOlga Richterová
Vojtěch Pikal
Radek Holomčík
Martin Kučera
Chamber of Deputies LeaderJakub Michálek
MEP LeaderMarcel Kolaja
Founded17 June 2009 (2009-06-17)
HeadquartersNa Moráni 360/3, Prague[1]
NewspaperPirátské listy
Youth wingYoung Pirates
Membership (2019)1,008[2]
IdeologyPirate politics[3]
Liberalism[4][5][6]
Participatory democracy[7]
Pro-Europeanism[8][9]
Political positionCentre[10] to centre-left[11]
European affiliationEuropean Pirate Party
International affiliationPirate Parties International
European Parliament groupGreens–European Free Alliance[12]
Colours     Black
Chamber of Deputies
22 / 200
Senate
3 / 81
European Parliament
3 / 21
Regional councils
5 / 675
Local councils
358 / 62,300
Prague City Assembly
13 / 65
Party flag
Website
www.pirati.cz

The party's program focuses on safeguarding of civil liberties from state or corporate power via government transparency[15] and public participation in democratic decision making. It aims to achieve its agenda by enacting laws for political accountability, anti-corruption, lobbying transparency, tax avoidance prevention, simplifying of state bureaucracy through e-government, supporting small and medium-sized business, funding of local development, promotion of environmental protection, consumer protection and sustainability. The party also aims to reform laws on copyright, financial markets and banking, taxation of multinational corporations, and while it is a pro-European party, it aims to address the perceived democratic deficit in the European Union by decentralization and subsidiarity.[16]

It is a centrist[10] to centre-left[11] and "liberal"[4] party (in contrast to "conservative") within the context of politics of the Czech Republic. The party was founded as a student-driven grassroots movement campaigning for political transparency, civil rights and direct democracy.

History

Formation and early years

The Czech Pirate Party was founded as a student-driven grassroots movement campaigning for political transparency, civil rights and direct democracy.[17][11] The party was initially inspired by the Swedish Pirate Party,[18] which like most other Pirate parties was a single-issue party focusing on Internet freedom. However, the Czech Pirate Party has developed a broad political platform.[19]

On 27 May 2009 an application was submitted to the Ministry of the Interior for registration of the party. On 17 June, the party was registered under the code MV-39553-7/VS-2009.[20] Within the first two days of the launch of their website in April, 1,800 people had signed an online petition to register the party.[21] Czech law requires a paper petition with 1,000 signatures for registration. In the student elections, the Pirate Party received 7.7% of the vote.[22]

On 28 June 2009 the party held a constitutive forum in Průhonice, near Prague, where the board was elected and main elements of the program were declared. Kamil Horký was elected as chairman. At the end of October 2009 in Albrechtice nad Orlicí, the General Assembly (GA) met for the first time, to complete statutes and elect a new board, commission and committee. Ivan Bartoš became party chairman.

The party participated in the general election in May 2010,[23] and received 0.8% of the vote.[24]

In December 2010, the party launched its own national whistle-blowing site similar to WikiLeaks, called PirateLeaks.[25] The site was intended as a primary source for journalists, dedicated to evidence of corruption in the Czech government and public administration documents which should be publicly available according to law 106/1999 Sb. (Free Access to Information Act) but which the authorities refused to disclose without a formal request defined by the law.

Parliamentary party until present
Deputies of the Parliament Tomáš Vymazal, Lukáš Kolářík, Ivan Bartoš, Dana Balcarová at a press conference in 2019
Following the 2018 Prague municipal election, the party formed a governing coalition and Zdeněk Hřib (front center) was elected Mayor of Prague.

Standing in a local senate election on 18–19 March 2011 in Kladno, they obtained 0.75% of the vote.[26] In the 2012 Czech Senate election, the Czech Pirate Party nominated three candidates; one of them was a co-nomination with two other parties. This candidate, the whistleblower Libor Michálek, was elected as Senator in the second round of voting, with the Czech Pirate Party becoming a parliamentary party for the first time.

In local elections in 2014 the party entered many local assemblies, including a clear majority in Mariánské Lázně,[27] which resulted in Vojtěch Franta being elected as the party's first mayor.[28][29] In the 2016 Senate election, the Pirates won two additional seats in the Senate with Ladislav Kos and Renata Chmelová, who were nominated by multi-party coalitions with the Pirates' support.[30]

Following the 2017 legislative election, the party became the third largest party in the Chamber of Deputies with 22 out of 200 seats and sits in opposition to the ruling cabinet.[13] Economist and auditor Lukáš Wagenknecht was elected Senator in the 2018 election, when Michálek's term ended.[31]

Pirate MEPs Markéta Gregorová (left) and Marcel Kolaja (right) since the 2019 European Parliament election

The Pirates ranked second in the 2018 Prague municipal election with 13 out of 65 seats and formed a governing coalition with the third and fourth-ranked parties that holds 39 out of 65 seats in the Prague City Assembly.[32] The leading Pirate candidate with 75,082 votes,[33] Zdeněk Hřib, was elected as Mayor of Prague.[34]

With leading candidate Marcel Kolaja in the 2019 European Parliament election,[35] the party ran on a common platform with the European Pirate Party.[36] Kolaja was elected along with Markéta Gregorová and Mikuláš Peksa as Members of the European Parliament.[37] In May 2019, the party negotiated to join the Greens–European Free Alliance parliamentary group along with German Pirate Party MEP Patrick Breyer.[38] In June, all four members of the European Pirate Party joined the parliamentary grouping.[12] On 3 July, Kolaja was elected one of fourteen Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament.[39]

In January 2020, Bartoš was re-elected as party leader.[40]

Positions and objectives

Political spectrum and ideology

The Czech Pirate Party is a centrist[10] to centre-left[11] and "liberal"[4] party (in contrast to "conservative") within the context of politics of the Czech Republic. The party's leadership expressed that it considers the left–right political spectrum to be obsolete.[41] The party itself describes its stance as economically centrist and socially liberal, in the context of Czech politics.[42]

Domestic policy

The party's program focuses on safeguarding of civil liberties from state or corporate power through government transparency, accountability and anti-corruption measures, introducing elements of participatory democracy by enabling law proposals by the public through petitions and simplification of state bureaucracy through e-government.[43]

The party proposes a lobby register and a lobbying law reform,[44] measures to address tax avoidance of multinational corporations and limit capital outflow, a bank tax, the strengthening of the Czech National Bank's authority, prevention of financial speculation that leads to financial crises and financial crime; and it is against any taxpayer-funded bank bailouts.[45]

The party has an environmental policy platform entitled "Ecology without ideology",[46] which focuses on the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, scientific research and development-based support for alternative energy (i.e. renewables and nuclear), sustainable materials management from product design to waste management, sustainable transport with a preference for public transport, and sustainable city planning and urban development.[47]

The party's agricultural policy proposes support for small-scale farmers and community farms instead of subsidizing intensive farming and large agribusinesses. The program promotes biodiversity of crops, and forest management and land management that address the environmental impact of agriculture rather than subsidizing monoculture crops that cause land degradation and have a variety of unsustainable environmental impacts. The Pirates also propose to simplify the producer–consumer chain by supporting infrastructure for the sale of local and seasonal produce.[48]

The party supports LGBT rights in the Czech Republic.[49]

2017 legislative electoral platform

The party's four main campaign policies in the run-up to the 2017 elections were:[16]

Furthermore, the Pirates announced policies on transport and logistics, finance, IT, culture, international relations, local development, defence, labour and social issues, industry and trade, justice, interior policy, education and science, healthcare, agriculture and the environment.[16]

European Union and international relations

The Czech Pirate Party is generally pro-European and pro-Eurozone, while advocating major reforms in both institutions to address the perceived democratic deficit in the European Union. The Pirates propose that the Czech Republic should participate in the mainstream of the European integration and should participate in EU decision making, but should adopt the Euro only if specific conditions are fulfilled.[50] The party also supports Czech membership of NATO, but it is critical of aggression by NATO members and argues that any engagement of NATO forces outside of the territories of its member states should take place only if supported by a United Nations resolution.[51] The party leadership has criticized military invasions by NATO and questioned the legality of the United States-initiated wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq and the 2011 military intervention in Libya by NATO forces.[52]

Among the party's European priorities is technological competitiveness of the EU on the world market, limiting corporate lobbying in the EU[35] and addressing Europe-wide tax avoidance by multinational corporations that offshore profits via tax havens.[53] Furthermore, the party addresses digital rights and prevention of increasing Internet censorship; promotion of environmental protection[54] and consumer protection.[55] The Pirates oppose the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)[56]

2019 European electoral platform

The program for the European Parliament elections in 2019 was published under the auspices of the European Pirate Party. Its core lies in addressing the democratic deficit in the European Union, decentralization and enacting of the subsidiarity principle: decision making on local and national affairs at the local levels of governance that are close to the citizens of the Member States.[57] In addition to copyright reform or the digital agenda, it covers topics such as education, environment and agriculture, foreign policy, defense, transport and taxation and space programs.[58] The party published its own European priorities in five points:[59]

International affiliations

The party is a member of Pirate Parties International and European Pirates (PPEU). Mikuláš Peksa is a board member of PPEU,[60] and Vojtěch Pikal was a co-chairman of PPI in 2013 and 2014. In April 2012, the party organised a conference of the Pirate Parties International (PPI) in Prague. More than 200 representatives of Pirate parties from 27 countries attended, including the founder of the Pirate movement, Rick Falkvinge; writer Cory Doctorow; and Swedish MEP Amelia Andersdotter.

The party expressed support for the pan-European political movement Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DieM25).[61][62][63]

Electoral history

Chamber of Deputies
Map of results by regions of the latest legislative election of 2017
See also: Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic
Year Leader Vote Vote % Seats ± Place Notes Position
2010 Ivan Bartoš 42,323 0.8
0 / 200
 New 11th No seats
2013 Ivan Bartoš 132,417 2.66
0 / 200
 0 9th Received state contribution No seats
2017 Ivan Bartoš 546,393 10.79
22 / 200
 22 3rd Opposition
  • Key members of the Chamber of Deputies since 2017
  • Ivan Bartoš, party chairman
  • Olga Richterová, party first vice chairwoman
  • Vojtěch Pikal, vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies, party vice chairman
  • Radek Holomčík, party vice chairman
  • Jakub Michálek, former member of the Prague City Assembly
  • Mikuláš Ferjenčík, former member of the Prague City Assembly
  • Dana Balcarová, chairwoman of the Committee on Environment of the Chamber of Deputies

Senate
See also: Senate of the Czech Republic
Election Candidates First round Second round Seats Total Seats Notes
Votes % Runners-up Place Votes % Place
201011,1310.02
0 / 27
17th 
0 / 27
0 / 81
201112050.75
0 / 1
8th 
0 / 1
0 / 81
By-election in Kladno district.
201237,9470.81
1 / 27
15th11,8072.306th
1 / 27
1 / 81
201413591.56
0 / 1
9th 
0 / 1
1 / 81
By-election in Zlín district.
201445,4540.53
0 / 27
19th 
0 / 27
1 / 81
201647,3520.83
2 / 27
17th 
2 / 27
3 / 81
201812,40610.59
0 / 1
4th 
0 / 1
3 / 81
By-election in Trutnov district.
2018 1 1,559 9.15
0 / 1
 5th  
0 / 1
3 / 81
 By-election in Zlín district.
20181263,1325.80
3 / 27
8th18,0484.319th
1 / 27
3 / 81
2019 1
0 / 1
  
0 / 1
3 / 81
 By-election in Prague 9 district.
Economist and auditor Lukáš Wagenknecht (center) was elected Senator in the 2018 election. when the term of whistleblower Libor Michálek (front right) ended

Local elections
Year Vote Vote % Place Seats
2010 189,360 0.21
3 / 62,178
2014 1,321,908 1.23 10th
21 / 62,300
2018 8,410,203 7.5% 3rd
262 / 61,892

Regional elections
See also: Regions of the Czech Republic
Year Vote Vote % Seats +/- Place Notes
2012 57,805 2.19
0 / 675
 New 29th
2016 44,070 1.74
5 / 675
 5 24th Joint list with Greens

Prague municipal elections
Year Leader Vote Vote % Seats +/− Place Position
2010 32,901 0.9
0 / 65
 New 10th No seats
2014 Jakub Michálek 1,101,081 5.3
4 / 65
 4 7th Opposition
2018 Zdeněk Hřib 4,197,578 17.1
13 / 65
 9 2nd Government

European Parliament
See also: European Parliament
Year Leader European party Vote Vote % Seats +/- Place
2014[64] Ivan Bartoš PPEU 72,514 4.78
0 / 21
 New 8th
2019[65] Marcel Kolaja PPEU 330,844 13.95
3 / 21
 3 3rd

Republic committee
Members of the Republic committee in February 2020

Chair history
Order Name Period
1. Kamil Horký 2009
2. Ivan Bartoš 2009 – 2013
3. Jakub Michálek 2013
4. Ivan Bartoš 2013 – 2014
5. Jana Michailidu 2014
6. Lukáš Černohorský 2014 – 2016
5. Ivan Bartoš 2016–present

Current vice-chairs
Position Name
1st Vice chairwoman Olga Richterová
2nd Vice chairman Vojtěch Pikal
3rd Vice chairman Radek Holomčík
4th Vice chairman Martin Kučera

See also

Notes

    References
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