Dundorf

[TheNick]

Rikkert Van Der Plaas Ousted as Pirate Leader in Shock Move
March 5607

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Supporters of the Pirate Party during a rally in Chontalen for the State Election.

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The 'Pirate Galleon', an executive council which manages the Pirate Party, has voted 9-0 to remove Rikkert Van Der Plaas as party leader. Van Der Plaas is the founder of the party, and appointed all nine members of the Galleon which was the reason every single political commentator and expert did not expect this to happen. Some are calling it ironically a 'mutiny' while the members who voted to remove him explained in detail why they took this decision in this press release:

We thank Rikkert Van Der Plaas for having had the courage to found this extraordinary movement. The Pirate Party represents Dundorf's real alternative to centuries of rule of the DSDP and NDZP, and their allies. This term, Rikkert Van Der Plaas agreed to join a coalition with the DSDP, TLD and GPP, with the condition of stopping the excessive spending typical of Socialist-led governments. This did not happen. We decided to move forward into next November's election with a new leader, capable of truly representing a credible alternative to the big government socialists and the bigoted conservatives. Dr. Theodore Engel, our party's candidate for President last year, will be assuming office as the new Leader of the Pirates and will lead our movement to victory.

Rikkert Van Der Plaas, who was vacationing in Egelion at the time of the vote, commented briefly: "I can't believe they would kick me out of my party. I wish Dr. Engel all the best, but I'm not done: I think this was an illegal removal and I will come back, sooner or later." The Nordenhausen Allgemeine Zeitung checked the Pirate Party's statute and found that the meeting of this council was regularly called, and that removal of a leader is possible as long as all members vote to oust the leader. Herr Van Der Plaas was removed by an unanimous vote.

Rikkert Van Der Plaas is the current Agricolture Minister and has stated that he intends to serve until the remainder of the term. Chancellor Werner confirmed he has no plans to fire him and that this whole issue is 'an internal matter of the Pirate Party and doesn't concern the Cabinet'. He is also serving as a MP for the Pirate Party but it remains to be seen if he wants to maintain his party membership and likely be a backbencher or join another party.