A Year of Ups and Downs: The Crises of the Czech Pirate Party as an Opportunity for Renewal and Maintaining Political Relevance

Since its foundation in 2009, the Czech Pirate Party has witnessed a gradual rise in electoral support and has achieved success at various political levels. It can be considered the most successful Pirate Party worldwide—a relevant political actor continuously since 2017, and the first Pirate Party to participate in government (2021–2024). However, the electoral coalition with Mayors and Independents (STAN) in the 2021 parliamentary elections resulted in a significant loss of parliamentary seats. The Pirates’ decline continued in two subsequent elections in 2024, ultimately leading to their withdrawal from the governing coalition. The rapid transformation from a protest-oriented party to a catch-all electoral coalition also created numerous internal disagreements and disputes—exacerbated by electoral losses—regarding the party's direction, structure, and long-term role within the Czech party system. Nevertheless, the internal crisis proved relatively short-lived and not fatal one. The Pirates joined the ranks of earlier examples of relevant parties that have managed to overcome internal crises and downturns in the party system since 1989 (Hanley and Kopeček 2025). The party’s revival is all the more remarkable given its limited membership base, a stable yet not extensive organizational structure, and restricted resources resulting from its bottom-up character. At the national level, the Pirates had the smallest parliamentary group since the mid-1990s, beside this operated within an ideological space characterized by frequent turnover among actors representing and defending this liberal-oriented quasi-movement (Folvarčný, Hruška and Pink 2025). The paper applies the anti-crisis resilience framework developed by Hanley and Kopeček to analyse the phases of the Pirates’ recent short-term slump. It examines the impact of the former alliance with STAN and the subsequent failure to win seats due to preferential voting on growing intra-party disagreements, which effectively mirrored a similar dispute back in 2014. It points to the inability of the originally internet-based party to respond effectively to opponents’ negative online agenda, which influenced not only political dynamics but also voter perceptions. The paper identifies key changes in party leadership, internal structure, and strategic orientation since autumn 2024. Then, it reflects the crisis management efforts and strategic shifts that formed the foundation of the Pirate Party’s turnaround in 2025, culminating in its regaining seats in the 2025 parliamentary elections. Finally, the paper discusses the future position of the Pirates as advocates of a liberal political perspective and the potential benefits of their recent closer relations with the Greens.