Political affiliation/ideology aside...
I would piss myself if I drove into a town and their official buildings were flying the Jolly Roger
A Pirate Party branch founded last November has scored a win in regional elections in Switzerland, with the city of Eichberg to fly the pirate flag under new mayor, Alex Arnold. The 31-year-old software developer is a local to the town and works for works as a developer for VRSG, which focuses on software and systems …
Party politics have no real connections with municipal politics where I live. Does this guy's affiliation with the Pirate Party actually have any meaning in Switzerland? I suspect that the PP doesn't have much in the way of policies on local development like zoning. building permits, and street lighting. I don't get it.
Not many votes were cast ("Das Wahlresultat fiel deutlich aus: Arnold holte 349 Stimmen, der erste SVP-Kandidat Walter Freund 145 Stimmen und der zweite SVP-Kandidat James Mock 61 Stimmen. Die Stimmbeteiligung lag bei 65 Prozent, wie die Gemeinde im St. Galler Rheintal mitteilte." http://bazonline.ch/schweiz/standard/Zum-ersten-Mal-wird-ein-Pirat-Gemeindepraesident/story/18684370 ) but the most satisfying thing is that he beat the right-wing SVP candidates, and even if there'd only been one of them he'd still have beaten them.
The SVP are the depressingly successful Swiss equivalent of a more hardline UKIP/BNP and were responsible for this monstrosity a couple of years ago: http://www.20min.ch/diashow/5362/Originalschafe.jpg
that the organization is in disarray in that country. Earlier this month, reports emerged of organizational problems – including non-payment of fees, in-fighting, and poor strategy.
Until they add "embezzlement of public funds", "moral flexibility" and "corruption" to the list, they'll never be a real political party. Looks like they're halfway there though...