Back in 2009, Pirate founding members Sven Clement and Jerry Weyer launched the party to consciously focus on specific issues and act as a counter weight to the established parties. Their early focal points were data protection, transparency, free access to information, and the protection of citizens’ rights.
In 2018, Sven Clement and Marc Goergen were elected to the Chamber of Deputies for a first time. According to the most recent projections, the Pirates are expected to gain another four seats in the upcoming election.
“A politician wants to make decisions and that works best from within an administration. But we can also see other scenarios working for ourselves”, MP Clement said during the interview.
Even if the Pirate Party gains the votes needed to become a viable coalition option, other parties will still have to approach them, he further noted, assuring viewers that for them, nothing is off the table. That is with the exception of far-right and far-left parties, which the Pirates do not view as viable coalition parters.
“We stand for pragmatic and solution-oriented policies, we are not looking to rehash problems and disputes from the past 100 years”, stated Clement. The Pirates intend to focus on matters such as people’s work-life balance and the increasingly digitalised environment of the present-day world.
According to MP Clement, the Pirates also value civic engagement and want to allow people to involve themselves more in the decision-making process.
