Libertas employee/founder David Cochrane's own website loses Libertas battle of the bulletin boards

This blog was stared in December 2008 after several anti Libertas posters were banned from Politics.ie .
In just a few months the mood on the site has changed as Libertas employees and supporters lose the argument on Libertas.

Deutschland says Libertas Nein Danke as Libertas fail in Germany bid for EU

http://www.politics.ie/elections/57533-deutschland-says-libertas-nein-danke-libertas-fail-germany-bid-eu-18.html#post1551609

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Originally Posted by passthedutchie The Austrian media have also noticed the plight of Libertas: Libertas hat offenbar Probleme bei Kandidatensuche I can’t be arsed to translate the whole thing right now, but what it comes down to is that Libertas admit they’re struggling to find candididates is Austria. According to Anita Kelly they are talking to “several people”. She refuses to say how many or mention any names, but there are “at least two”. Oh dear. Also, the situation in other countries is unclear; according to Anita Kelly, it’s certain that Libertas candidates will run in Ireland, UK, France, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia*, and the Czech Republic. *They really need to clarify their status in Slovakia. As far as I can see, they have missed the deadline, but they might have teamed up with another party there. So come on, Libertas, give us some of that transparency you’re always talking about! A bit more here: Libertas, Sektion Österreich, sucht noch Kandidaten, and a more general overview here: Von der Schwierigkeit zu mobilisieren.

They've definitely missed the deadline (2nd April) in Slovakia and there's no indication as yet from any other party that their candidates will also be running for Libertas.

Here are some extracts from that article in the Austrian paper, Der Standard:

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Brüssel - Die EU-kritische Partei 'Libertas', die bei den Wahlen zum Europaparlament Anfang Juni in allen 27 EU-Staaten antreten will, hat offenbar zunehmend Schwierigkeiten, Kandidaten in den einzelnen Ländern zu finden. Die vom irischen EU-Skeptiker Declan Ganley gegründete 'Libertas' wollte bereits Anfang März auch für Österreich eine Liste mit einem Spitzenkandidaten präsentieren, doch ist man zeitlich deutlich in Verzug. Die Sprecherin von 'Libertas', Anita Kelly, erklärte am Dienstag auf Anfrage der APA, es gebe noch keinen Kandidaten, man sei aber mit mehreren Personen im Gespräch. Um wie viele potenzielle Bewerber es sich handelt, wollte sie nicht mitteilen und Namen sind vorerst tabu. Aber es seien 'zumindest zwei'. Auch was die bisherige Liste von Ländern betrifft, in denen 'Libertas' bereits fix antreten wird, herrscht einigermaßen Unklarheit. Fix sind laut Kelly Bewerber in sieben Staaten - Irland, Großbritannien, Frankreich, Litauen, Lettland, Slowakei und Tschechien. Offiziell heißt es bei "Libertas", dass es "täglich mehr" würden - davon aber ist bis dato keine Rede. 2.600 Unterstützungserklärungen in Österreich Parteien und Listen, die bei der EU-Wahl am 7. Juni in Österreich antreten wollen, können ab 31. März Unterschriften sammeln. Sie haben bis zum 1. Mai Zeit - denn laut Wahlkalender müssen die Wahlvorschläge heuer spätestens am 'Tag der Arbeit' um 17.00 Uhr bei der Bundeswahlbehörde eingebracht werden. Mindestens 2.600 Unterstützungserklärungen müssen Listen sammeln, die nicht auf Nationalrats- bzw. EU-Abgeordnete zurückgreifen können. Die in den Parlamenten vertretenen Parteien haben es leichter: Sie brauchen nur die Unterschrift eines EU-Abgeordneten oder dreier Nationalratsabgeordneten. Voraussetzung für ein Antreten bei der EU-Wahl ist überdies die Bezahlung von 3.600 Euro Druckkostenbeitrag.

Brussels - The EU-critical party 'Libertas' which wants to contest elections to the European Parliament at the beginning of June in all 27 EU states is apparently finding it increasingly difficult to find candidates in the individual countries. 'Libertas', founded by Irish EU-sceptic Declan Ganley, wanted to present a list with a lead candidate in Austria at the beginning of March, however, there has been an obvious time delay. The spokeswoman for 'Libertas', Anita Kelly, explained on Tuesday, after an inquiry from APA, that there is still no candidate, however, they are in discussions with several people.

She did not want to state how many potential applicants were involved, and names are taboo for the time being. But there are 'at least two'. There is also somewhat a lack of clarity regarding the current list of countries in which 'Libertas' will definitely run. According to Kelly there are candidates already secured in seven states - Ireland, Great Britain, France, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Officially 'Libertas' states that there will be 'more daily', but no announcement has been made yet.

2,600 declarations of support in Austria

Parties and lists which want to participate in the EU election on the 7th June in Austria can collect signatures from 31st March. They have up until the 1st May - then, according to the electoral calendar, electoral nominations must be presented this year during 'Labour Day' by 17.00 at the latest to the Federal Election Authority. Lists which do not have any National Assembly or EU representatives must collect at least 2,600 declarations of support. Those parties already represented in the parliaments have it easier: they only need the signature of an EU-representative [MEP] or three National Assembly representatives. Furthermore, a condition for starting in the EU elections is the payment of a 3,600 euro contribution to printing costs.

The last paragraph states that money is not a problem for Libertas. It also discusses the controversy that surrounds the funding of political parties in Poland.

One final comment from Austria about Libertas, which sums up their main difficulty in each country they're running candidates in:

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Vor allem Libertas dürfte sich als nicht genuin österreichische Partei in Österreich schwertun.

Above all, Libertas might find itself in a hard place in Austria, as a party that's not genuinely Austrian .

Basically, it can't compete with home-grown eurosceptical parties for the nationalist vote.

---

And meanwhile in Romania...

Permanent Electoral Authority:
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Cel mai târziu cu 60 de zile înainte de ziua de referinţă: 8 aprilie 2009, ora 24,00 [art. 12 alin. (1) şi (2) şi art. 12^1] Descriere acţiune: Depunerea şi înregistrarea candidaturilor. Autoritatea sau persoana care realizează acţiunea: Partidele politice, alianţele politice şi organizaţiile cetăţenilor aparţinând minorităţilor naţionale legal constituite, alianţele electorale şi candidaţii independenţi. Mod de realizare: În scris la Biroul Electoral Central
No later than 60 days prior to election day: 8 April 2009, 24.00 [art. 12 § (1) and (2) and art. 12^1].
Description of action: Submitting and registering candidacy.
Authority or person responsible for performing action: Political parties, political alliances and civic organizations belonging to legally constituted national minorities, electoral alliances and independent candidates.
In writing at the Central Electoral Bureau

They need a list of 200,000 signatures to register a party list, or alternatively 100,000 for an independent candidate, and all of that before midnight local time (=22.00 WET). (Law 33/2007 (PDF))

Last week, they couldn’t get 4000 signatures in a country of 82 million, and now they need at least 100,000 signatures in a country of 22 million, within the next 5 hours. Best of luck to them!

So far I have not seen any signs that ‘Libertas România’ actually exists...

The lists of candidates will be published via the national broadcaster (Societatea Romana de Radiodifuziune or Televiziunea Româna) before midnight tomorrow

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The Austrian media have also noticed the plight of Libertas: Libertas hat offenbar Probleme bei Kandidatensuche I can’t be arsed to translate the whole thing right now, but what it comes down to is that Libertas admit they’re struggling to find candididates is Austria. According to Anita Kelly they are talking to “several people”. She refuses to say how many or mention any names, but there are “at least two”. Oh dear. Also, the situation in other countries is unclear; according to Anita Kelly, it’s certain that Libertas candidates will run in Ireland, UK, France, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia*, and the Czech Republic. *They really need to clarify their status in Slovakia. As far as I can see, they have missed the deadline, but they might have teamed up with another party there. So come on, Libertas, give us some of that transparency you’re always talking about! A bit more here: Libertas, Sektion Österreich, sucht noch Kandidaten, and a more general overview here: Von der Schwierigkeit zu mobilisieren. http://www.politics.ie/elections/57533-deutschland-says-libertas-nein-danke-libertas-fail-germany-bid-eu-15.html#post1545461 marmurr1916 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,015 Thanks: 4 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts European Parliament elections, June 2009. Austria. Number of MEPs to be elected: 17. Belgium. Number of MEPs to be elected: 22. Bulgaria. Number of MEPs to be elected: 17. Cyprus. Number of MEPs to be elected: 6. Czech Republic. Number of MEPs to be elected: 22. Denmark. Number of MEPs to be elected: 13. Estonia. Number of MEPs to be elected: 6. Finland. Number of MEPs to be elected: 13. France. Number of MEPs to be elected: 72. Germany. Number of MEPs to be elected: 99. Greece. Number of MEPs to be elected: 22. Hungary. Number of MEPs to be elected: 22. Ireland. Number of MEPs to be elected: 12. Italy. Number of MEPs to be elected: 72. Latvia. Number of MEPs to be elected: 8. Lithuania. Number of MEPs to be elected: 12 Luxembourg. Number of MEPs to be elected: 6. Malta. Number of MEPs to be elected: 5. Netherlands. Number of MEPs to be elected: 25. Poland. Number of MEPs to be elected: 50. Portugal. Number of MEPs to be elected: 22. Romania. Number of MEPs to be elected: 33. Slovakia. Number of MEPs to be elected: 13. Slovenia. Number of MEPs to be elected: 7. Spain. Number of MEPs to be elected: 50. Sweden. Number of MEPs to be elected: 18. UK. Number of MEPs to be elected: 72. Total number of MEPs to be elected: 736. Quote: Recent reports in the Irish media have indicated that a second referendum before next year's European elections is highly unlikely. This creates a potentially awkward political situation where the elections are fought on the basis of the Nice Treaty, meaning the election of 736 MEPs instead of the 751 set out in the Lisbon Treaty. Quote: The citizens of the European Union will go to the polls at beginning of June to decide the future of their Europe. There will be 736 MEPs elected, from all 27 member states, in an unprecedented expression of international democracy. Quote: Almost 500 million European citizens in 27 countries are eligible to vote, as 736 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are elected for a five-year term. Quote: He said the European Parliament represents 491 million citizens and that, according to the Nice Treaty, 736 MEPs will be elected. Quote: All 736 MEPs in the European Parliament will be elected under some form of proportional representation. Quote: Europe wide there are now 785 MEPs but this is to be cut down to 736 MEPs following the election in June 2009. According to the Libertas.eu site, Quote: With a vote for Libertas: you can win 785 seats