Mega founder Kim Dotcom hopes to float political party for upcoming NZ elections

Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has thrown his hat into the political ring and confirmed plans of launching a political party in New Zealand. Dotcom aims to run for the elections next year.

In a tweet posted over the weekend, Dotcom suggested that he could be entering the political arena in New Zealand. Accompanying his tweet was an image of a magazine that sports the headline, “Dotcom for PM”. He later admitted to TorrentFreak that he has a political programme up his sleeve and he’s already meeting potential candidates. If all goes according to plan, Dotcom will be taking his newly formed party into elections in November 2014.

Dotcom, reeling from the closure of Megaupload, his file-sharing service, landed up in New Zealand. He’s being sought by the US on charges of copyright infringement and money laundering. Hearing of his plans to form a party to fight elections, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key mocked Doctom, suggesting that this was a ploy to fight his extradition.

Key even suggested that Dotcom name his party “the Nohope party”. Speaking to local media, he added, “It’s like everything we see from the guy, he wants to stay here to fight his extradition treaty, he’s got some very good PR people, we’ll see how it goes,” In return, Dotcom fired a tweet, “I don’t have PR people. I’m just good at being myself. Try that Mr Key.”

Dotcom’s ambitious plans, however, have no base, and Dotcom knows it. He isn’t a citizen of New Zealand and therefore cannot contest elections. He can be the president of a party, though, and Dotcom fully intends on following that path.

German citizen Dotcom has endeared himself to a huge chunk of New Zealanders in his short stint in the country. With the promise that he will keep his new service Mega within the country, he did so even more. Will this mean success for Dotcom in the upcoming elections? That is something only time will tell.