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Politics
Photo: DPA

Greens not ruling out coalition with Pirates

Published: 14 Apr 12 09:30 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20120414-41937.html

A leading Green party official said he is not ruling out a coalition with the up and coming Pirate Party, but warned that the upstart politicians need to stand for more than education for all and free public transportation.

“We’re not discounting the Pirates as merely a protest party, but we are evaluating them on content - just like any other party,” Cem Özdemir, co-chairman of the Greens told Focus magazine in a preview released on Saturday.

German political analysts have noted that in recent elections the Pirates have taken votes from the Greens, a much more established party.

In the Saarland vote on March 25, the Pirates polled a whopping 7.4 percent, beating out the Greens, which barely reached the required five percent mark needed for parliamentary representation.

The remaining two contests this year are on May 6 in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein and May 13 in Germany’s most populated state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Many analysts expect the Pirates to do well in those votes too.

Özdemir said the Greens and the Pirates have things in common but also differences.

“It’s not enough to advocate education for all or free local public transportation without saying how that can be concretely achieved with limited public funds,” Özdemir told the magazine. He added that the Left party has taken this route already.

DAPD/The Local/mw

What do you think? Leave your comment below.


Your comments about this article:

11:01 April 14, 2012 by derExDeutsche
hey, you want free stuff, we want free stuff, so lets steal or subsidize it. sounds like a match made in heaven.
11:39 April 14, 2012 by pepsionice
The Pirates aren't exactly a pro-environment party. The Pirates aren't exactly open to mass immigration or great relations with Turkey. So it's a pretty long stretch...if you ask me....for these two to partner up. I'm more likely to see some CDU partnership situations.

The big deal here is that the Pirates ought to pull around twelve to fourteen percent in the next national election. It might be more than even the Greens can pull. The Pirates have arrived to the big-time.
12:11 April 14, 2012 by Sayer
"The Green-Pirates!" Sounds like a super-hero team that could work in a dialogue on "The Big Bang Theory!"
16:44 April 14, 2012 by McM
The party that is against everything joining forces with the party that stands for nothing. German politics has become so complacent and so comfortable now that it can afford to be decadent. This is hilarious, bring it on.
17:28 April 14, 2012 by Englishted
The pirates use wind power in their transport and the green produce lots of hot air everytime they open their mouths.
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