Ivan Bartoš, the Chairman of the Pirate Party, was re-elected the party’s Chairman and leader again during the party’s National Forum. His two main challengers were Vojtěch Pikal and Mikuláš Ferjenčík. When Pikal received the second most votes promoting him to the faceoff election, he declined and stepped down, giving Bartoš the win. Bartos received almost 40% more votes than Pikal in the first round. After accepting the win, Bartos promised to grow the party, freedom, and digitalization. The forum took place over the weekend in Ostrava. The party also elected its first lady Vice-Chairman Olga Richterová.
There were no politicians or other parties invited to the forum. Nor was there any talk about the other parties. The one exception was the STAN party, or Starostové a nezávislí (Mayors and Independents). The Head of STAN Vít Rakušan was invited, but could not attend. The Pirates even openly mentioned that the STAN party is the only other liberal party in the country and feel increasingly comfortable with them. That being said, Bartos declared it all depends on people. In various parts of the country the Pirate Party works with many different parties, depending on trust, agreements and policies of the individuals.
The forum gave the opportunity to all senior members to discuss what they see as the issues to focus on for the party. Topics ranged from housing to the debt collections system, health care to taxes. Pikal, who resigned to Bartoš, wants to increase the coverage of party members in all levels of government. Ferjenčík sees the legalization of marijuana as the path to paying for what the country needs.
