vote. That falls far short of the seven percent that the party secured in 2009’s European Parliament elections, and also short of the four percent threshold required to enter parliament.

Rick Falkvinge, the party’s leader, told Torrentfreak: “The Swedish Pirate Party did its best election campaign ever. We had more media, more articles, more debates, more handed-out flyers than ever. Unfortunately, the wind was not in our sails this time, as it was with the European elections.”

The outcome wasn’t entirely unexpected. The party has been polling in the low percentiles for months, mostly due to the election debate being focused on other issues. “The other parties had put a collective blanket over the privacy, culture and knowledge issues,” said Falkvinge. Recent global furore over Wikileaks, which the party had promised to host in Parliament if elected (along with the Pirate Bay), failed to boost Piratpartiet’s profile.

Some have also called into question the timing of the Pirate Bay defendants’ appeal, which begins in a few weeks time. The original trial gained significant media attention across the world, so if it had occurred just before the election then it’s possible that the party might have been able to capitalise on that. Peter Sunde, one of the four defendants, said: “Case set to be heard AFTER Swedish election. We’re only available before the election. Who said this case is NOT political?”

Elsewhere in the election, a far-right anti-immigration party called the Sweden Democrats, who call Islam “un-Swedish”, won 20 of the country’s 349 seats, with no party able to gain an overall majority. The governing centre-right coalition secured 172 seats, with the opposition bloc, comprised of the Greens and Social Democrats, winning 157. For the moment, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will remain in office.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Pirate Party is in the process of choosing a new leader, following the surprise resignation of Andrew Robinson in August.

Photo: Cybriks/Flickr

Authors: Duncan Geere, Wired UK

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