Julian Assange Announces Run for Australian Senate
The beleaguered WikiLeaks founder tells "Fairfax Media" he will start a new political party in Australia to fight for transparency in government and personal privacy.
Julian Assange has announced that he intends to form a new WikiLeaks political party in Australia and will run for a Senate seat in the country’s 2013 federal elections.
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The Australia native made the statements in an interview he gave to Fairfax Media -- from within the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has been holed up since June to avoid extradition to Sweden over rape and sexual assault allegations.
Assange, 41, said his scheme to set up the new political party is "significantly advanced" and a number of "worthy people" in Australia have said they would back him. He added that his new party will advocate openness in government and work to protect individual privacy.
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If Assange were to win a Senate seat but remained stuck in England, his party would be able to appoint a nominee to occupy it in his stead. But first the new WikiLeaks party will need to register 500 members with Australia’s electoral commission to be officially recognized.
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