Board Dutch Pirate Party pressured to leave by member council

An internal power struggle has cost theboard of the Pirate Party in The Netherlands its head. The member council has asked the board in no uncertain terms to clear the field. The freshly installed president ad interim Wesley Schwengle says to Tweakers: “The council has held the opinion for some time that the previous board was not functioning well. We (the council, ed.) have indicated this several times. Time and again, the board proved unable to lead the party. They are unclear and do not show leadership.”

According to Schwengle, the board was insufficiently involved with leading the party and failed to meet deadlines and agreements on a regular basis. “This isn’t the first time. Last weekend, only one member of the board was present. The other four again let us down.”

Schwengle, already member of the council, has now assumed presidency of the board, on an interim basis. As a result of which, he writes in an internal mail, he withdraws from his post in the council.

We don’t support all the ideas of the Pirate Party. Still, we have come to know Samir Alloui, the party’s principal election candidate and now ex vice-president of the board as an eager campaigner who supported his party with fire. Although we aren’t privy to the exact proceedings, it feels a little sour that the party severs its ties with the board in such a manner.

The primary task of the interim board is to try and calm the party down. That will not be easy. The party has had a brief but turmoiled past. Earlier, the pirate party had internal problems when a candidate MP assaulted a student of journalism.