Assange: I can rule from abroad

[struggle4progress]

Friday 26 July 2013 9:24AM
James Bourne

... Mr Assange said he plans to hold office in absentia if he is elected and can't get back to Australia by the July 2014 deadline.

‘So how it works is that if the US say I’m not getting safe passage, or the US investigation or the UK or Sweden are still being problematic,…the party can nominate someone to take the seat and keep it until such time as I am able to return’ ...

But despite having leaked large amounts of military secrets through his WikiLeaks project, Mr Assange agreed that some level of privacy was necessary for the successful operation of the military ...

‘But you know, no endeavour is perfect. To date, fortunately, we have a perfect record’ ...

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/assange-i-can-rule-from-overseas/4844186

[bemildred]

1. Assange Seeks Seat in the Australian Senate

SYDNEY, Australia — Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, formally inaugurated a new political party bearing the name of his antisecrecy organization on Thursday and declared his own unorthodox candidacy for a seat in the Australian Senate in national elections to be held later this year.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Assange said he had every confidence in his ability to run a campaign from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. He has been living under asylum there for more than a year to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on sexual assault accusations.

“It’s not unlike running the WikiLeaks organization,” he said. “We have people on every continent. We have to deal with over a dozen legal cases at once.”

“However, it’s nice to be politically engaged in my home country,” he added.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/world/asia/wikileaks-founder-assange-to-run-for-australian-senate.html