TorrentFreak reports:
January this year Kim Dotcom launched his Internet Party with an ambition to enter the New Zealand Parliament a few months later. The Internet entrepreneur could not run for election himself, but as the party's president and visionary he would gain significant political power.
[...In the September 20 election,] The party managed 1.26% of the total vote, somewhat short of the 5% required to enter the New Zealand Parliament. A disappointing result after Dotcom spent more than $2 million on the party and its election campaign.
[...]"I take full responsibility," Dotcom said in a short speech. "The brand Kim Dotcom was poisoned ... and I did not see that before the last couple of weeks."
The Tally Room has some more numbers and details.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bradley13 on Friday September 26 2014, @07:40AM
Getting some technically aware people into government is really important. But Kim Dotcom? Sure, he was maltreated by law enforcement, but this doesn't change the fact that they guy is a slimeball. Surely they can find a better representative for technological issues?
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 26 2014, @08:43AM
Well a bunch of people voted for Key, and he's a slimeball who's been caught in his lies many times.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 26 2014, @08:47AM
...but I do concur with your basic sentiment. (Sorry, hit send before I finished my internal monologue.)
(Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Friday September 26 2014, @10:09AM
Account abandoned.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 26 2014, @10:36AM
As a kiwi, i can safely say him losing the election was the best thing possible.
Dotcom only entered politics so that he could avoid being extradited.
He threw $4.5MNZD ($3.5USD) million money at buying his way into government. The ruling government with about 50% majority only paid 1M NZD in electoring by comparison.
He spent such a large amount by creating his own political party, and then he purchased a tiny successful party, the mana party, and merged it. They actually came to a contractual agreement, mana would join with the internet party for this term in return for a ton of money.
The results were laughable, the combined party failed to make any dent, and the backlash from such an election rort by a foreign moraless scumbag actually killed off the previously successful mana party.
Don't even get me started about the sham that is the rest of the leftwing parties in NZ.
So NZ has re-elected for the 3rd term, one of the most popular and successful governments in our history. With the most popular Prime minister in recent (perhaps all) nz history leading it.
(Score: 2) by zeigerpuppy on Friday September 26 2014, @11:09AM
you forgot to count the free media support that the free marketeer encumbents received,
worth at least $20M conservatively; oh what was that now foreign companies will be able to own your utilities and assets, tell me who's the bigger whore.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 26 2014, @11:35AM
There is so much that is wrong with that statement, i'm not sure where to begin, and doubt very much that you would actually listen.
But i'll give a run down.
You've dug up 20m, and yet its totally made up. A value drawn up to help explain why the left lost so badly. Being unable to accept reality, to understand and reflect on why you lost, will only cause another repeat of the last 2 elections. But go ahead and blame any and everything else you can think of, after all, everyone else is wrong, and only you and your tiny minority know what's best.
Most of the publicity wasn't exactly flattering for national, with the weeks leading up to the election, the topic being 'dirty politics' which is a book designed to heap as much dirt at National as possible
The only respite given was from Dotcom himself when he published what most (including his lawyer by omission in court) consider to be a forged email in an attempt to prove key was lying.
Foreign companies can buy into our businesses, and i'll welcome it. So long as they end up investing their money in NZ, paying NZ taxes, and creating NZ jobs.
But don't get the fact that national won the election get you down, in another 3 years you can contest for leadership again, and NZ will be in even better condition than it is now when you try.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 26 2014, @05:24PM
The results were laughable, the combined party failed to make any dent
Yeah. My original suggested dept. was from the slaughtered dept. [soylentnews.org]
and the backlash from such an election [rout?] by a foreign [immoral?] scumbag actually killed off the previously successful mana party
Yup. Not building any inertia for the future points to a true failure.
-- gewg_
(Score: 1) by JamesNZ on Saturday September 27 2014, @06:35PM
I've never been so happy about a political failure in my life...