Sen. Wagenknecht announces run for Pirate Party chairmanship

Senator Lukáš Wagenknecht has announced that he is a candidate to become the next Pirate Party chairman. The current chairman, Ivan Bartoš, has not said whether he will seek re-election at the progressive party’s forum in January.

Senator Wagenknecht, a former deputy Minister of Finance, has focussed on good governance and anti-corruption initiatives since entering politics. He has been a prominent actor in taking legal action at the European level over outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s alleged conflicts of interest.

Ivan Bartoš is tapped to be the country’s first Minister for Digitization, as well as and Minister for Regional Development, in the five-party coalition government that includes the Pirates.

The Pirate Party currently has only four MPs, having lost 22 seats in the parliamentary election held in October.