Luxembourg Pirate Party loses captain

The head of Luxembourg's Pirate Party, the biggest winner of last year's national elections, is stepping aside, as the party gears up for the European election and hopes gain influence in communes too.

Sven Clement, the founder of the Pirate Party in 2009, will keep his seat in the Luxembourg parliament, one of two the party gained last year, when it claimed 6.45% of the popular vote.

It was only the second time the Pirates - loosely associated with similar grassroot movements in Europe - participated in the vote, and the first time they gained any seats in the parliament.

Clement said farwell as party leader at a weekend conference in Luxembourg City. Two spokespeople, Marie-Paul Dondelinger and Starsky Flor, will now be heading the party.

The conference also presented six candidates for the European elections. 

"With luck and if all goes well, we may be able to send a Pirate to the European Parliament very soon," Clement said in his opening speech.

A number of positions the party adopted weekend should help it prepare for communal elections in 2023, the party believes.

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