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The Pirate Bay Party will grab the votes in the upcoming EU elections, or at least, this is what a poll carried out by a major Swedish newspaper predicts. This means that the movement, which has gathered attention due to the Pirate Bay ‘guilty’ verdict, will get a seat in the EU Parliament.
The IPRED anti-piracy legislation made the support for the Swedish Pirate Party to surge. Its membership surpassed even the Green Party, with more than half of men under 30 age reportedly considering voting for them in this years European Parliament elections.
Then a guilty verdict was handed down in the Pirate Bay trial - an absolute gift for the Pirate Party, whose ranks swelled at an unprecedented rate. It now sits at just over 41,750 members and at the current growth rate the party will be Sweden’s third largest in membership before the weekend.
The poll conducted by the Swedish newspaper DN.se predicts that the Pirate Party will get 5.1% of all votes in the June EU elections - actually enough to guarantee them a seat in the European Parliament.
The poll reveals that the party is the second largest among younger voters in the age group, like 18-30.
“This poll confirms our recent phenomenal growth in support, and says there will be pirates in Brussels after this election,” Pirate Party Leader Rick Falkvinge told for TorrentFreak. “Scoring like this in a poll will further enhance support for the party. While there’s still much work to be done, we’re on the home stretch and have the goal in plain sight. June 7 is election day. On the morning of June 8, we’ll know.”
Falkvinge also added: “In January of 2006, we set sail for new civil liberties land by bypassing today’s politicians and talking directly to voting citizens — that is, with the goal of kicking some of today’s politicians out of office. It appears we’ve just heard the first LAND AHOY! from the watch,”
When the Swedish Pirate Party was founded three years ago, the majority of the mainstream press viewed them with skepticism, with some simply laughing them away. Times have changed though. The Pirate Party is now a serious competitor for the established parties in Sweden, and on its way to conquer Europe.
Give them the support they deserve!
