Pirates and Mayors

Pirates and Mayors

Piráti a Starostové
Pirates and Mayors Piráti a Starostové
Abbreviation	PirStan
Leader	Ivan Bartoš (Piráti)
Deputy Leader	Vít Rakušan (STAN)
Founded	14 December 2020; 3 years ago
Dissolved	6 November 2021; 3 years ago
Ideology	Liberalism; Progressivism; Decentralization; Environmentalism; Direct democracy; Pro-Europeanism;
Political position	Centre
European Parliament group	Greens–European Free Alliance (3 MEPs); European People's Party Group (1 MEP)
Colours	Black; Yellow; Green;
Website
	www.piratiastarostove.cz
	Politics of Czech Republic; Political parties; Elections;

Pirates and Mayors (Czech: Piráti a Starostové) was a liberal progressive centrist political alliance in the Czech Republic, formed for the 2021 legislative election, consisting of the Czech Pirate Party (Piráti) and Mayors and Independents (STAN). As of the 2021 Czech election it governs the Czech Republic in a coalition with the SPOLU alliance.

History

Following the 2020 regional elections, opposition parties began negotiations about potential electoral alliances. Speculation began about a liberal bloc composed of the Pirate Party and Mayors and Independents, with Ivan Bartoš as the leader.^[9]

The leadership of Mayors and Independents agreed to start negotiations on 8 October 2020.^[10] The Pirates were required to ratify any alliance in a members' referendum. A poll on 20 October 2020 indicated that 51% of Pirate Party members were opposed to the alliance while 43% supported it. The referendum to start negotiations for an alliance was originally scheduled for 13 to 16 November 2020,^[11] but was rescheduled for 20 to 23 November 2020.^[12] Among Pirate Party members, 695 out of 858 voted in favor of negotiations, with a turnout of 80%.^[13] Ivan Bartoš was nominated as the Pirate Party's election leader on 25 November 2020,^[14] and was confirmed on 2 December 2020. The Pirates also offered the Green Party the possibility to join its electoral list.^[15] Ivan Bartoš was confirmed as the alliance's electoral leader on 14 December 2020.^[16] Pirate Party members voted to approve the alliance on 13 January 2021.^[17]

The alliance participated in the 2021 legislative election, finishing third with 15.6% of the votes and 37 seats, which was considered a disappointment. Due to preference voting, Mayors and Independents won 33 seats and the Czech Pirate Party won just 4 seats.^[18] Some media reports said that the atmosphere between STAN and Pirates had become more tense following the election, leading to speculation about the potential dissolution of the alliance, with the Pirates remaining in opposition.^[19]^[20] However, in early November, Pirates and Mayors signed a coalition agreement to form a government with SPOLU.^[21] Following coalition negotiations with SPOLU, the alliance was assigned seven ministries of the government, out of which four are for Mayors and Independents and three for Pirates.^[22]

In November, Rakušan stated that STAN will not enter the next election on a joint list with the Pirates.^[23]

Member parties

Name		Ideology	Position	Leader	MPs before election	MPs after election	Senators	MEPs	Regional councillors
	Czech Pirate Party	Pirate politics	Centre to centre-left	Ivan Bartoš	22 / 200	4 / 200	2 / 81	3 / 21	99 / 675
	Mayors and Independents	Localism	Centre to centre-right	Vít Rakušan	6 / 200	33 / 200	19 / 81	1 / 21	91 / 675

Regional leaders in the 2021 election

Region	Leader^[24]^[25]			2017 result combined		2021 result
Region	Name		Party	Votes	Seats	Votes	Seats
Prague		Olga Richterová	Piráti	22.6%	6 / 24	22.64%	6 / 23
Central Bohemian		Vít Rakušan	STAN	20.2%	5 / 26	19.46%	6 / 26
South Bohemian		Lukáš Kolářík	Piráti	15.1%	1 / 13	13.50%	2 / 13
Plzeň		Josef Bernard	STAN	14.9%	1 / 11	13.88%	2 / 11
Karlovy Vary		Petr Třešňák	Piráti	15.3%	1 / 5	14.23%	1 / 5
Ústí nad Labem		Ivan Bartoš	Piráti	11.9%	1 / 13	13.99%	2 / 14
Liberec		Jan Farský	STAN	24.2%	2 / 8	21.37%	2 / 8
Hradec Králové		Martin Jiránek	Piráti	15.8%	1 / 11	15.13%	2 / 11
Pardubice		Mikuláš Ferjenčík	Piráti	15.5%	1 / 10	14.09%	2 / 10
Vysočina		Blanka Lednická	Piráti	14.2%	1 / 10	13.51%	1 / 10
South Moravian		Radek Holomčík	Piráti	12.7%	3 / 23	14.19%	4 / 23
Olomouc		Tomáš Müller	STAN	12.9%	1 / 12	12.35%	2 / 12
Zlín		František Elfmark	Piráti	14.3%	2 / 12	13.44%	2 / 12
Moravian-Silesian		Lukáš Černohorský	Piráti	11.3%	2 / 22	11.13%	3 / 22