Pirate Party (Finland)

Pirate Party
Piraattipuolue (Finnish)
Piratpartiet (Swedish)
ChairpersonPekka Mustonen
Deputy chairsSatu Immonen
Marek Nečada
Riikka Nieminen
Founded24 May 2008
HeadquartersFranzéninkatu 5 E 1
00500 Helsinki
NewspaperPurje (discontinued 2013)
Youth wingPirate Youth
Membership (2019)173
IdeologyPirate politics
Freedom of information
Information privacy
Political positionBig tent
European affiliationEuropean Pirate Party
International affiliationPirate Parties International
Colours  Purple
  Black
  White
Website
www.piraattipuolue.fi
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The Pirate Party (Finnish: Piraattipuolue, Swedish: Piratpartiet) is a Pirate Party in Finland that was registered as a political party from 2009 to 2023. The group currently has around 173 paying members.[1] The chairman of the party is Pekka Mustonen.[2] The party is a member of Pirate Parties International and European Pirate Party.

History

In January 2008, Matti Hiltunen registered the domain piraattipuolue.fi and set up a BBS on the site. In May 2008, about 50 founding members of the party held the founding assembly in Tampere.[3] In September 2008 the party started to collect the 5,000 supporter cards [fi] needed to officially register the party. The party's goal was to take part in the 2009 European Parliamentary election. The supporter cards were collected by 1 June 2009,[4] too late for the elections. The party was officially registered on 13 August 2009.[5]

In October 2009, the Pirate Party took part in the special municipal election of Loviisa with 1 candidate, but did not win a seat. The party's first major election was the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election with 127 candidates in 11 constituencies,[6] receiving 0.5% of votes and becoming the largest party to have no seats in parliament.[7] In the 2014 European Parliament election it won 12,378 votes (0.7%).[8] In the 2015 Finnish parliamentary election the party received 25,105 or 0.8% of total votes, and was left without seats in the parliament.[9] Consequently, the Ministry of Justice de-registered the party for failing to win seats in two consecutive parliamentary elections.[10] The party collected the required 5,000 supporter cards again and was re-registered on 6 June 2016.[11] After failing to win seats in the next two parliamentary elections, it was de-registered again in 2023.[12]

In the 2017 municipal elections, the Pirate Party gained two seats on municipal councils, one in Helsinki and one in Jyväskylä. Helsinki council member Petrus Pennanen received 1,364 votes;[13] Jyväskylä council member Arto Lampila received 191 votes.[14] Both lost their seats in the municipal elections of 2021.

Political goals

In its political agenda, the party aims to develop open democracy, safeguard civil rights and increased transparency in politics. It wants to free information and culture from prohibitive restrictions and review the utility of the patent system, all while increasing privacy and freedom of speech. The party supports a universal basic income and wants to abolish daylight saving time.[15]

Pirate Youth

The party has a youth organisation, the Pirate Youth (Finnish: Piraattinuoret). It was founded on 5 February 2009 in Helsinki. It has an upper age-limit of 28 years.[16] Membership of Piraattinuoret is free of charge.

Election results

Election campaign stations for the Pirate Party and Independence Party on Narinkkatori in Helsinki

Parliament of Finland

Election Votes % Seats +/– Government
2011 15,103 0.51
0 / 200
 New Extra-parliamentary
2015 25,105 0.85
0 / 200
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2019 19,032 0.62
0 / 200
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2023 3,058 0.10
0 / 200
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary

European Parliamentary elections

Year Elected Votes Share Ref.
2014 0 12,355 0.7%
2019 0 12,579 0.7% [17]

Municipal elections

Year Elected Votes Share Ref.
2012 0 5,986 0.2%
2017 2 9,075 0.4% [18]
2021 0 2,608 0.1%

Party chairs

  • Carl E. Wahlman (2008)
  • Pasi Palmulehto (2008–2012)
  • Harri Kivistö (2012–2014)
  • Tapani Karvinen (2014–2016)
  • Jonna Purojärvi (2016–2018)
  • Petrus Pennanen (2018–2019)
  • Pekka Mustonen (2019–2020)
  • Riikka Nieminen (2020-)

References

  1. ^ "Piraattipuolueen rivit rakoilevat: puheenjohtaja haluaa lakkauttaa puolueen ja liittää sen toiseen". 27 December 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Ihmiset". 28 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Historia ja tilastoja". Piraattipuolue. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  4. ^ "Finnish Pirate Party files for party registration". Helsingin Sanomat. 2 June 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  5. ^ "Pirate Party of Finland enters party register". 2009. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  6. ^ "Number of candidates by party and constituency in Parliamentary elections 2011". 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  7. ^ "Results - Whole country". 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  8. ^ "Tulos puolueittain". Finnish Ministry of Justice. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  9. ^ "Koko maa - puolueiden kannatus". Yle uutiset. Yleisradio. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  10. ^ "Kuusi puoluetta putosi puoluerekisteristä". Yle uutiset. Yleisradio. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Piraattipuolue palasi puolueeksi". Suomenmaa. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Yhdeksän puoluetta poistettu puoluerekisteristä". Vaalit.fi (in Finnish). Ministry of Justice. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Helsinki - Kuntavaalit 2017 - Vaalien tulospalvelu | Yle". Vaalien tulospalvelu (in Finnish). Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  14. ^ "Jyväskylä - Kuntavaalit 2017 - Vaalien tulospalvelu | Yle". Vaalien tulospalvelu (in Finnish). Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  15. ^ "Puolueohjelma" (in Finnish). Piraattipuolue. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  16. ^ "Yhdistystietoa" (in Finnish). Piraattinuoret. Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  17. ^ "Europarlamenttivaalit 2019: Tulokset: Koko maa" (in Finnish). Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  18. ^ "Koko maa - Kuntavaalit 2017 - Vaalien tulospalvelu | Yle". Vaalien tulospalvelu (in Finnish). Retrieved 2017-04-10.
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