German Pirates Unsuccessful in General Election
They ran what appears to have been a strong general election campaign in Germany, but it appears that the German Pirate Party (Piratenpartei) appears only to have won 2% of the vote. Under the post-war constitution parties must cross a 5% threshold in order to gain representation in the Bundestag (lower house of parliament). It demonstrates further the mountain the Pirate Party UK has to climb in order to get the concerns of party supporters heard, let alone represented. If German party can only poll such a low number in a country with proportional representation (PR), what will become of their British counterpart?
It’s worth noting that turnout was at a record low, although ‘low’ for Germany is far higher than what the UK is used to. Whether low turnout or the unexpectedly strong showing of the Left Party (Die Linke) played a part remains to be seen. Even larger concerns about modern capitalism might well have eclipsed the more focused concerns of the Pirates, although the exit polls appear to reflect similar levels of support on both sides of the west-east divide.
