Party of the Week: Pirate Party of the Czech Republic

This week's Pirate Party of the Week is the Pirate Party of the Czech Republic, which on May 29th will participate in national elections.

We encourage everyone to promote the link to the Questions and Answers, link to the website and Youtube/Facebook account of the Party of the Week and publish the questions/answers on your website/blog, on your Facebook page or print it out and show it to your friends.

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Tell us why the Pirate Party of the Czech Republic is participating in the current elections.

The current elections are the main elections in the Czech Republic. We have experienced tremendous support of the people in the Czech Republic during our campaign. That makes us believe that the effort and the resources we put into it are worth it.

The Pirate program is not an abstract and distant vision, it is a natural demand of the electorate. We say this simply that "it is normal to be a pirate"; the same as it is normal to download data from the Internet. The freedom of information is the main topic, and we are confident that in this topic we represent people's opinions better.

What are the core topics during the election campaign? Are there topics that are unique to the Pirate Party of the Czech Republic, something that distinguishes them from other Pirate Parties?

The campaign stands out by its originality. We are pioneers of political campaigns, and the other political parties attempt to immitate us, usually recycling our old ideas. We are happy that we can share our ideas; we only hope that this "sharing" will extend to the actual realization of our ideas. Our originality supports our main political thesis that culture, science and the public life is possible even without monopolies and a state financed organizations. For instance, our state TV video clip (EN subtitles), received the top position in the main newspaper.

The unique party topic is an independent and free approach to marihuana, which can be tracked to the very beginning of the party. The story has it so that the founder was displeased that he could not download the newly published album of the band Depeche Mode, smoked a bit of dope and founded the party. No, seriously: There are thousands of people who suffer from serious illnesses, and believe that marihuana creams, drops or other medicaments help them overcome the disease. They can, however, be sentenced to prison according to the Czech Criminal Code. We believe that marihuana for medical purposes should be allowed, and that it is inherent to the freedom of expression to choose the form of medical treatment that fits the best.

Tell us more about the inner structure of PP-CZ.

Our official supporters are members of the party and registered supporters, who cannot vote.

The inner structure sticks to a strict separation of powers like the constitution of USA. Our captain is the president of the party and of the presidium, which represents the executive power. The legislative branch consists of the board. The judiciary consists of the audit committee and the arbitration committee. There is the system of checks and balances in place. All officers are elected directly by the national forum, which is the supreme body -- a gathering of all members; only the board has 14 other members, who are the chairmen of the regions (elected by the regional forum).

Moreover, we have departments led by heads of departments that assist the presidium, and committees that prepare documents such as the political program to be approved by the board.

All debates and voting take place by electronic means preferably; the debates are public. Any officer can be recalled at any time by the national forum, which has its own rules of procedure and usually its own chairman. This system has worked very well and we are happy with it, since it ensures the democracy, control, and accountability.

If you think 5 years ahead, what will be different compared to today's situation?

There are plenty of people, who are not real Pirates; they are only disgusted by the current politicians in the Czech Republic. I am confident that in five years those people will grasp all the pirate ideas and understand that the freedom of information is the pirate key point. I think our good feature is that we do have positive values to offer.
In 5 years the structures shall be well established with all the respect necessary, and we will have more resources to use for spreading the pirate ideas. Also, the people will be more vigilant, so that the European Union will find it harder to put through the will of the recording industry, since we several members of the European Parliament to represent the voice of the majority of people.

How do you manage to keep your financial balance? Did you have any special fund-raising methods? How can people support PP-CZ?

We are very strict in accepting donations. It is only possible to donate money to the Czech Pirate Party by a wired transfer to the bank account with the name, address and date of birth displayed.

This guarantees the electorate the highest level of transparency, which is fundamental for credibility. The fundraising strongly depends on the election polls. We have, however, managed to gather the money from our members and our supporters needed to run in the elections in all regions and to campaign modestly (some 20 000 Euro). In fundraising, we usually try to explain the cause, for which the money is needed. The people react generously, since they can control the money on our bank account all the time, and are sure that every crown is appreciated.

How many members does PP-CZ have at the moment? Can foreigners become members of PP-CZ?

At this moment, the central registry has 159 members, 110 registered supporters, 1217 people registered on the forum, 58867 total discussion posts on the forum, and 14607 fans on facebook .

Persuant to the §2(3) of the law No. 424/1991 Coll., Act on Association in Political Parties and Political Movements, as amended, only the citizens can become members of the party. The status of a registered supporter is open even to foreigners and to minors.

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• Pirate Party of the Czech Republic Website: http://www.ceskapiratskastrana.cz
• Pirate Party of the Czech Republic on Youtube: Ceska Piratska Strana
• Pirate Party of the Czech Republic on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ceska.piratska.strana