Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is forming a political party and intends to run for the Federal Senate seat in 2013. He has told Fairfax Media that plans are ‘significantly advanced’ and ‘a number of very worthy people admired by the Australian public’ are interested in standing for election for the party.
Assange has been seeking political asylum in London’s Ecuadorian embassy for almost six months now, and doesn’t expect the US government to drop its espionage investigation for perhaps another ‘several years’. However, even under threat of arrest and extradition, Assange is confident he can fulfil the requirement to nominate for the Australian Senate as an overseas elector in either New South Wales or Victoria. If he were elected but unable to return to Australia, a nominee could take up his position for him.
Assange’s father, John Shipton, has begun drafting the party’s constitution and the registration process, as the Australian Electoral Commission requires confirmation of 500 members upon registering a party. With the WikiLeaks Twitter account alone boasting 1.7 million followers, 500 people shouldn’t be hard to muster.
WikiLeaks party objectives would include promoting transparency in government and politics and would counter growing intrusions to citizen’s privacy. Assange has been encouraged by the polls over the last two years which has shown that WikiLeaks support has remained consistently high while also indicating he could be a competitive candidate in either NSW or VIC for the Senate seat.
An online poll running today on the Sydney Morning Herald has shown that 73% of 16, 000 participants would cast a vote for Assange.
Picture by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
