The Czech Pirate Party has been led by Ivan Bartoš since 2016. Under his leadership, they became the third largest party in the Czech Republic after the 2017 legislative election, with 22 seats.[3] Bartoš also led the party during the 2021 election, which the party contested as part of the Pirates and Mayors electoral alliance. Due to preferential voting, the Pirates received only 4 seats of the 37 seats won by the alliance. After the election, a part of the membership called for Bartoš's resignation.[4] The party joined the new government following the election.
On 13 December 2021, Senator Lukáš Wagenknecht announced his candidacy for party leader.[5][better source needed] He said that the situation within the party was not good, as it was becoming "a submissive political accessory with only 4 MPs." He expressed concern that the failure in the 2021 legislative election could repeat itself in municipal elections in 2022.[6] Bartoš himself stated that he was yet to decide whether to run for another term.[7]Jana Kolaříková and Jana Michailidu also announced their intention to run.[8] Bartoš announced his candidacy on 16 December 2021. He admitted during the announcement that he was partly to blame for the party's poor result in the legislative election, but expressed the belief that "even though the situation is hard the party will become more experienced and will be stronger." Eva Horáková was also running for the position at the time.[9]David Witosz later announced his candidacy, saying that the Pirate Party should not become a party of one man. On 3 January 2022, Bartoš, Michailidu, Wagenknecht and Witosz were reported to be the official candidates.[10][11]
Michailidu gained widespread media attention when she described herself as a "democratic Communist".[12][13] Michailidu received seven nominations, Bartoš four, Wagenknecht three, and Witosz one.[14][15]
