This really is kind of yesterday’s news, but I figured I’d report on it anyway, seeing as how I have a great interest in this myself.

Yesterday was the Swedish election to the European parliament. Normally such an election probably wouldn’t be such a big deal to most Swedes, as Brussels and Europe can seem so far away to a lot of people. But yesterday, something big happened.

With 7.1% of the votes, the Pirate Party gained one (or possibly two) seats in the European parliament.

In case you don’t know what the Pirate Party is, here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it:

The Pirate Party (Swedish: Piratpartiet) is a political party in Sweden. It strives to reform laws regarding copyright and patents. The agenda also includes support for a strengthening of the right to privacy, both on the Internet and in everyday life, and the transparency of state administration. The Party has intentionally chosen to be bloc independent on the traditional left-right scale to pursue their political agenda with all mainstream parties. The Pirate Party is the third largest political party in Sweden in terms of membership. Its sudden popularity has given rise to parties with the same name and similar goals in Europe and worldwide.

The Party participated in the 2006 Riksdag elections and gained 0.63% of the votes making them the third largest party outside parliament, where a minimum of 4% is required. In terms of membership, it passed the Green Party in December 2008, the Left Party in February 2009, the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats in April 2009, and the Centre Party in May 2009, making it the third largest political party in Sweden. The Pirate Party’s associated youth organization, Young Pirate (Swedish: Ung Pirat), is now the largest political youth organization in Sweden by membership count.

So why is this such a big deal to me? The party that I choose to support gains one (or possibly two, if the Lisbon Treaty goes into effect) out of something like seven hundred seats in the European parliament. Their presence there probably isn’t going to change a heck of a whole lot.

However, you have to keep in mind that this is a party that has grown out of nothing, and in just 3 years they’ve managed to receive the trust of 7,1% of the Swedish people over the age of eighteen. And remember that this is a highly controversial party that wants to reform laws regarding copyright and patents, something that a lot of record companies and film publishers aren’t all that happy about.

In the recent years the Swedish government has continually undermined the rights and privacy of their citizens; with the arrest of the people behind the Pirate Bay, the approval of military surveillance of all international communication to and from Sweden, IPRED, and numerous other completely insane actions. If this is not a clear message as to what the people think of that - I don’t know what is.

I don’t approve of DRM, surveillance of civilian communication, increased government control, and patents that last 70 years after the death of the author. That’s why I voted for the Pirate Party, and that’s why I will be voting for them again in the national election in 2010!