The Pirate Party has voted to close its online forum to the public, as 296 out of 456 voters supported the proposal, Denik N reported yesterday. Party spokeswoman Lucie Svehlikova said the Pirates want to continue communicating with the public as they have done so far.
The party uses the Internet forum for discussions and votes, most recently on the departure from the government of Petr Fiala (ODS). The Pirates’ national forum includes all party members.
After the restriction of access, only a member or registered supporter of the party will have access to online discussions. “A registered supporter or close associate of the party has access to party meetings as a guest, unless the meeting is closed,” Svehlikova told Denik N. She added that others can access the meeting only if approved by the national forum.
The motion to remove the phrase “anyone else” from the rules for displaying forum content was supported by MP Klara Kocmanova. “The public is more interested in the results of the discussion than in how the discussion is conducted. I have had feedback from voters that it would be better if they did not transparently discuss everything,” she told Denik N.
The web forum is one of the characteristics of the Pirates, who pride themselves on transparency. But it has also had its critics, who say such extreme openness of communication has its drawbacks.
Pirate Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky proposed closing the party forum at the end of September this year, before eventually leaving the party amid a government crisis. “Pirates must get rid of the commies and ultra-leftists. And shut down the forum,” he told news server Novinky.cz.
Shortly thereafter, the Pirates approved the party’s withdrawal from its coalition agreement with the Spolu coalition (ODS, Christian Democrats, TOP 09) and the Mayors and Independents (STAN) at the forum. The party decided to quit the government in response to Fiala’s decision to remove Pirate leader Ivan Bartos from his post as deputy prime minister for digitisation and minister for regional development. Lipavsky has remained a member of the cabinet as an unaffiliated minister.
