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ELECTIONS

Pirate Party to stand in local elections

Sweden's Pirate Party has announced that, in addition to standing in next year's general election, it will also be represented in local council elections.

Pirate Party to stand in local elections

A decision to run in both local and national elections was taken by the party and announced by party leader Rick Falkvinge in an opinion article in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper on Thursday.

“The Pirate Party aims to change legislation on a global scale to encourage the growth of the information society, a society which is characterized by diversity and openness,” he writes.

“The Pirate Party is needed to protect citizens’ integrity and private lives against surveillance-minded and information-gathering populist authorities, even on a local political level,” he continues, citing public transport registration of passenger movements and libraries requiring identification to search for information, as examples.

The party wants, among other initiatives, to introduce open source software in schools and authorities to improve national security, and expand the public right of access to information.

Falkvinge underlined that only the sharpest minds will be selected to represent the party in local government elections.

The party leadership plans to put pressure on local organisations to ensure that only quality candidates are allowed to run.

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