Samir Allioui (born 1983) is a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

politician and activist. From August 2009 to April 2010, Allioui served as the Co-President of

Pirate Parties International Pirate Parties International (PPI) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Formed in 2010, it serves as a worldwide organization for Pirate Parties, currently representing 3 ...

, firstly with Pat Mächler and later with Jerry Weyer. He was later elected a Co-Chair of Pirate Parties International, serving from March 2011 to April 2012. Allioui was also the

lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the leader of a political party in an election to a legislative body. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government. In open list electoral systems, it is ...

for the Pirate Party of the Netherlands during the

2010 Dutch general election General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 9 June 2010. This was triggered by the fall of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's fourth cabinet on 20 February with Queen Beatrix accepting the resignation of the Labour Party ( ...

Early life and education

Allioui was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

to a Moroccan father. His mother was 16 when she gave birth to him, and Allioui ended up spending time in several different

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or ab ...

s. However, he spent most of his childhood with foster parents in

Zoetermeer Zoetermeer () is a city in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950. By 2013 this had grown to 123,328 ...

. Allioui also lived in

the Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

for a few years, which was when his 16-year-old sister was killed in the house when he was not home. Five years after her death, he tracked down the culprit using his computer skills, and the culprit was prosecuted by the police. Allioui was complimented by the judge for his efforts. Allioui became very interested in

computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...

, particularly coding and writing script at school. After he finished school, he spent a short time in the

Dutch Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...

, and a year as a programmer at a marketing consultancy, before studying

Business Information Technology Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separat ...

Windesheim University of Applied Sciences Windesheim University of Applied Sciences ( nl, Hogeschool Windesheim) is a Dutch vocational university institute for higher education and research. With over 27,000 students and more than 3,000 members of staff at sites in Zwolle and Almere, Win ...

Political career

Pirate Parties International

Allioui, alongside Pat Mächler, became joint Co-Presidents in charge of the 'Coreteam' of

(PPI) in August 2009, following the resignation of sole coordinator Andrew Norton on 2 August. Allioui served in this role until the 2010 founding conference of the PPI on 18 April 2010. Mächler stepped down on 1 March 2010, shortly before the conference, which meant that between the Mächler stepping down and the conference, his role was filled by Jerry Weyer. During the conference, Weyer and Grégory Engels were elected the first Co-Chairs of the PPI. Allioui was re-elected as a Co-Chair of Pirate Parties International during their 2011 conference in

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He was elected alongside

Marcel Kolaja Marcel Kolaja (born 29 June 1980 in Moravská Třebová) is a Czech software engineer, Internet freedom and digital rights activist and a Czech Pirate Party politician who serves as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since the 2019 elect ...

and served from 13 March 2011 until the next conference which ended on 15 April 2012. Allioui was described by Andrew Norton as "a constant and outspoken critic of the PPI Board".

Pirate Party of the Netherlands

Allioui is a co-founder of the Pirate Party of the Netherlands, and also served as their informal leader, notably during the

, where he was the

for the Pirate Party. Allioui was the lijstduwer for the Pirate Party in the

2012 Dutch general election Early general elections were held in the Netherlands on 12 September 2012 after Prime Minister Mark Rutte handed in his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix on 23 April. The 150 seats of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands were ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allioui, Samir 1983 births Living people Dutch political party founders Pirate Party (Netherlands) politicians