The Pirate Party in Germany is "anything but populist, right-wing and anti-immigration"...
New protest movements in other European countries are fiercely populist, right-wing and anti-immigration. The Pirates are anything but.
Germany’s established parties could never satisfy the political expectations of a younger generation weaned on the Internet and globalization. “That’s where the Pirates came in to fill the vacuum...”
Sunday, the Pirates won nearly 8 percent of the vote in North Rhine-Westphalia — a major victory in what is considered a bellwether state. There were other big upsets there, too: The Social Democrats and Greens were swept back into power, while the Christian Democrats were trounced, a big defeat for Ms. Merkel.
Buoyed by such successes, the Pirates now have their sights on national elections set for next year, even though they have few concrete policies toward the euro crisis, the economy, or social or security issues. Where they exist, their suggestions tend to be costly, like providing every schoolchild with a laptop computer, or giving everybody a basic income independent of work.
The only party relishing the rise of the Pirates is the Christian Democrats. Despite the electoral setback last Sunday, Ms. Merkel’s popularity, and that of her party on the national level, is on the rise again, in part because of the Pirates.
The Pirates are dividing the left, much to the delight of the conservatives. It means that the prospect of a coalition of Social Democrats and Greens winning the national elections next year seems weaker than a few months ago. The speculation is of another “grand coalition” of conservatives and Social Democrats.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/world/europe/15iht-letter15.html?_r=1
Any new party will "divide" support for existing parties. Hopefully, this does not benefit Merkel in the next national election.
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