Pirate party boards Berlin city parliment
The centre-left did not do as well as expected, the Greens had the wind taken out of their sails and the pride of Merkel's own party was barely salvaged by small gains. The eccentric Pirate Party came from nowhere to teach all the established parties a lesson.
This result is ugly for Merkel's coalition government, but what I find interesting is the rise of the Pirate Party as a real party in Europe. A technocratic liberal party, with a strong emphasis on personal information freedom and security. Over the last couple of years they have expanded from a single issue party into a general left wing party and gained a voter base. The 9% of the vote they managed here will give them a chance to show if they can do anything constructive with a small amount of real power.
Jay