On September 18th, 2011, the German Pirate Party gained 8.9 percent in their first participation in the Berlin state election and far surpassed the required five percent to receive representation in the state parliament. They finished in fifth place and received 15 seats. In their election manifesto they promoted an unconditional basic income as part of their economic and social policy. According to the Pirate Party, basic income should secure the existence of any citizen with permanent residence or unrestricted right of residence in Germany without any further requirements. Post-election polls have attributed much of the Pirate Party’s success to its social policy agenda.

The Pirate Party was founded in 2006 on the basis of a claim for internet freedom. Direct democracy and transparency have developed as further parts of its themes. Since its foundation the Pirate Party has been growing and participated in several German state elections as well as in the German federal election and European Parliament election in 2009. This achievement marks the first time the Pirate Party will participate in a state parliament.

Another party that participated in Berlin state election and stands for an unconditional basic income is the Socialist Equality Party (Partei für Soziale Gleichheit, PSG). Its candidate Christopher Vandreier underpinned the party’s claim for an unconditional basic income of €1.500 as a requirement for equal participation in society in an election broadcast shown during the election according to the World Socialist Web Site. The PSG got only 0.1 percent in the election and therefore clearly missed the required five percent.

Wolfgang Müller – BI News

For more information about Berlin state election, Pirate Party and Socialist Equality Party see:
https://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/sep2011/pira-s10.shtml
https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,787044,00.html
https://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/sep2011/berl-s06.shtml
https://berlin.piratenpartei.de/ (German only)
https://www.gleichheit.de/ (German only)
https://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/BE2011/ergebnis/karten/zweitstimmen/ErgebnisUeberblick.asp?sel1=1052&sel2=0651 (German only)
https://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/sep2011/pira-s10.shtml
https://falkvinge.net/2011/03/18/should-pirate-parties-include-the-swarm-economy/