# Pirates and Mayors

Pirates and Mayors (Czech: Piráti a Starostové, PirStan) was a liberal progressive centrist political alliance in the Czech Republic, formed for the 2021 legislative election, consisting of the Czech Pirate Party (Piráti) and Mayors and Independents (STAN). As of the 2021 Czech election it governs the Czech Republic in a coalition with the SPOLU alliance.

## History

Following the 2020 regional elections, opposition parties began negotiations about potential electoral alliances. Speculation began about a liberal bloc composed of the Pirate Party and Mayors and Independents, with Ivan Bartoš as the leader.
The leadership of Mayors and Independents agreed to start negotiations on 8 October 2020. The Pirates were required to ratify any alliance in a members' referendum. A poll on 20 October 2020 indicated that 51% of Pirate Party members were opposed to the alliance while 43% supported it. The referendum to start negotiations for an alliance was originally scheduled for 13 to 16 November 2020, but was rescheduled for 20 to 23 November 2020. Among Pirate Party members, 695 out of 858 voted in favor of negotiations, with a turnout of 80%. Ivan Bartoš was nominated as the Pirate Party's election leader on 25 November 2020, and was confirmed on 2 December 2020. The Pirates also offered the Green Party the possibility to join its electoral list. Ivan Bartoš was confirmed as the alliance's electoral leader on 14 December 2020. Pirate Party members voted to approve the alliance on 13 January 2021.
The alliance participated in the 2021 legislative election, finishing third with 15.6% of the votes and 37 seats, which was considered a disappointment. Due to preference voting, Mayors and Independents won 33 seats and the Czech Pirate Party won just 4 seats. Some media reports said that the atmosphere between STAN and Pirates had become more tense following the election, leading to speculation about the potential dissolution of the alliance, with the Pirates remaining in opposition. However, in early November, Pirates and Mayors signed a coalition agreement to form a government with SPOLU. Following coalition negotiations with SPOLU, the alliance was assigned seven ministries of the government, out of which four are for Mayors and Independents and three for Pirates.
In November, Rakušan stated that STAN will not enter the next election on a joint list with the Pirates.

## Member parties

| Name | Name | Ideology | Position | Leader | MPs before election | MPs after election | Senators | MEPs | Regional councillors |
| | Czech Pirate Party | Pirate politics | Centre to centre-left | Ivan Bartoš | 22 / 200 | 4 / 200 | 2 / 81 | 3 / 21 | 99 / 675 |
| | Mayors and Independents | Localism | Centre to centre-right | Vít Rakušan | 6 / 200 | 33 / 200 | 19 / 81 | 1 / 21 | 91 / 675 |

## Regional leaders in the 2021 election

| Region | Leader | Leader | Leader | 2017 result combined | 2017 result combined | 2021 result | 2021 result |
| Region | Name | Name | Party | Votes | Seats | Votes | Seats |
| Prague | | Olga Richterová | Piráti | 22.6% | 6 / 24 | 22.64% | 6 / 23 |
| Central Bohemian | | Vít Rakušan | STAN | 20.2% | 5 / 26 | 19.46% | 6 / 26 |
| South Bohemian | | Lukáš Kolářík | Piráti | 15.1% | 1 / 13 | 13.50% | 2 / 13 |
| Plzeň | | Josef Bernard | STAN | 14.9% | 1 / 11 | 13.88% | 2 / 11 |
| Karlovy Vary | | Petr Třešňák | Piráti | 15.3% | 1 / 5 | 14.23% | 1 / 5 |
| Ústí nad Labem | | Ivan Bartoš | Piráti | 11.9% | 1 / 13 | 13.99% | 2 / 14 |
| Liberec | | Jan Farský | STAN | 24.2% | 2 / 8 | 21.37% | 2 / 8 |
| Hradec Králové | | Martin Jiránek | Piráti | 15.8% | 1 / 11 | 15.13% | 2 / 11 |
| Pardubice | | Mikuláš Ferjenčík | Piráti | 15.5% | 1 / 10 | 14.09% | 2 / 10 |
| Vysočina | | Blanka Lednická | Piráti | 14.2% | 1 / 10 | 13.51% | 1 / 10 |
| South Moravian | | Radek Holomčík | Piráti | 12.7% | 3 / 23 | 14.19% | 4 / 23 |
| Olomouc | | Tomáš Müller | STAN | 12.9% | 1 / 12 | 12.35% | 2 / 12 |
| Zlín | | František Elfmark | Piráti | 14.3% | 2 / 12 | 13.44% | 2 / 12 |
| Moravian-Silesian | | Lukáš Černohorský | Piráti | 11.3% | 2 / 22 | 11.13% | 3 / 22 |

## Election results

| Year | Leader | Vote | Vote % | Seats | +/- | Place | Position |
| 2021 | Ivan Bartoš | 839,776 | 15.62 | 37 / 200 | 9 | 3rd | Government |

## Footnotes

* 1 2 3 4 "European Election Watch Czech Republic". Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
* ↑ Jelínek, Lukáš (25 November 2020). "Prubířským kamenem Pirátů a STAN bude skládání kandidátek". Czech Radio.
* ↑ Tramba, David (19 May 2021). "Piráti a Starostové jsou opatrně projaderní, s uhlím chtějí skončit v roce 2033". Ekonomický Deník.
* ↑ "Programová vize koalice Piráti a Starostové". starostove-nezavisli.cz. 8 October 2021.
* ↑ "Koalice Pirátů a Starostů zřejmě podpoří euro v Česku". Euro v Česku. 23 December 2020.
* ↑ Klimeš, David (12 November 2020). "Opozice se šikuje do koalic. Vydrží až do voleb, jen když se shodnou na programu". aktualne.cz. Aktuálně.
* ↑ Zachová, Aneta (13 January 2021). "Could the Czech Pirates form a new government?". Euractiv.
* ↑ "Volby 2021: PIRÁTI a STAROSTOVÉ". ČT24 (in Czech). Česká televize. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
* ↑ "Námluvy pokročily. Jak se pečou koalice proti Babišovi do velkých voleb?". cnn.iprima.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
* ↑ "STAN schválil zahájení vyjednávání s Piráty o koalici pro parlamentní volby". iDNES.cz. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
* ↑ "Piráti zatím odmítají spolupráci se STAN. Bojí se zneužití". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
* ↑ "Piráti o koalici se STAN: Nechceme si konkurovat. Jasno bude koncem listopadu". Deník.cz (in Czech). 7 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
* ↑ "Piráti začnou jednat o koalici se STAN. Členové dali zelenou v referendu". Seznamzpravy.cz. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
* ↑ "Bartoš míří na lídra koalice se STAN". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
* ↑ "Piráty povede do voleb Bartoš, potvrdili členové v referendu". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
* ↑ "Koalici Pirátů a STAN povede Bartoš. Chtějí spolu do vlády či opozice". iDNES.cz. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
* ↑ "Piráti potvrdili koalici se STAN. Vyvedeme spolu zemi z krize, slíbil Bartoš". iDNES.cz. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
* ↑ Bureš, Milan. "Oslabení a zklamaní". Týdeník Respekt. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
* ↑ "Nálada mezi Piráty a STAN houstne. Někdo nám nasazuje psí hlavu, zlobí se Bartoš". cnn.iprima.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 23 October 2021.
* ↑ "Odchod Pirátů do opozice? Podle dohody by do vlády nesmělo ani hnutí STAN". Seznamzpravy.cz. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
* ↑ "Lídři SPOLU a Pirátů se Starosty podepsali koaliční smlouvu. Fiala očekává, že Babišova vláda podá demisi koncem týdne". ČT24. 8 November 2021.
* ↑ Gavenda, Jaroslav; Koutnik, Ondrej (2 November 2021). "Takto si koalice rozdělily ministerstva. Fiala má slíbenou návštěvu u Zemana". Seznam.cz.
* ↑ Danda, Oldřich (6 November 2021). "Rakušan: Příště půjdeme do voleb bez Pirátů". Novinky.cz.
* ↑ "Piráti si zvolili lídry krajských kandidátek pro sněmovní volby 2021". Česká pirátská strana.
* ↑ "Krajský online sněm v Olomouckém kraji zvolil kandidáty do letošních voleb". Starostové a nezávislí.