“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
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