Party of the Week: Pirate Party of Finland

This week's Pirate Party of the Week is the Pirate Party of Finland.

Will the Pirate Party of Finland participate in any upcoming elections? Please tell us about your expectations for the next elections you will participate in.

The Pirate Party of Finland will participate in parliamentary elections in April 2011. This will be our first major election, since we have previously only participated in municipal elections in one small municipality. Our goal is to get a few seats in the national parliament with 200 representatives. There's no formal threshold so far, but new parties generally need about one percent of the vote in order to succeed.

What are the core topics of the Pirate Party of Finland? Are there topics that are unique to the Pirate Party of Finland, something that distinguishes them from other Pirate Parties?

For a long time, Finland has been regarded as a corruption-free country with a functioning democratic system, both by natives and foreigners. One could say that things have been "too well" in a way that it is difficult to help regular citizens notice any shortcomings, such as lack of government transparency and limitations to freedom of speech. The recent election funding scandals proved that corruption exists also in Finland.

Other issues we're facing are very similar to the rest of the pirate parties. We have an Internet censorship system that was set up in the name of blocking child porn. We all know how big of a failure that is. Another thing we're eyeing closely at the moment is the suggested change in copyright legislation to force ISPs to send warning letters to alleged filesharers.

Tell us more about the inner structure of PP- Finland.

PPFI has a national board of 15 members and a local organisation in 10 of the 15 electoral districts. PPFI was founded in early 2008 and the member count has been steadily rising with occasional bursts coming with copyright lawsuits and the like. In August 2009 we received the status of a registered party (In Finland, we need to collect 5,000 signatures for this to happen.) Like many other pirate parties, we also have a youth organisation.

We strive to have very open and active communication between the board and party members. For example, all of the board meetings are held in an open IRC channel and anyone can join and participate in them. Sketches of possible official statements are posted on an open forum so that members can influence them in advance.

If you think 5 years ahead, what will be different compared to today's situation?

A formal electroral threshold of three per cent will most probably be put in place in parliamentary elections. This can pose significant problems for smaller parties, but PPFI will have grown substantial enough not to be hindered by it. In fact, we might already have enough national support in order to beat the threshold. PPFI will enter the parliament. We do not aim to become a major party, but seek to get influence in the right place at the right time.

How do you manage to keep your financial balance? Do you have any special fund-raising methods? How can people support PP- Finland?

There are no membership fees or other payment schemes. All income originates from voluntary donations and webstore sales. We encourage people to give the party regular donations. Besides money there are other ways to help, e.g. using social media to increase visibility or using pirate themed products from our store, such as t-shirts. People can support our cause financially by donating via wire transfer or by SMS messages in the near future. Finnish fundraising legislation lets us receive money from outside Finland, but we can't ask for donations from abroad.

How many members does PP- Finland have at the moment? Can foreigners become members of PP- Finland?

PPFI has some 2,800 members. To join the party you must be a citizen of Finland or living in Finland.

Something Else?

Keep in contact and make yourselves known! It is important to know how other pirates around the world are doing, and the amount of usable synergy among different pirate parties is enormous.

---

• Pirate Party of Finland Website: http://www.piraattipuolue.fi/
• Pirate Party of Finland on Twitter: http://twitter.com/piraattipuolue
• Pirate Party of Finland on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/piraattipuolue

---
We encourage everyone to promote the link to the Questions and Answers, link to the website and Youtube/Facebook account of the Party of the Week and publish the questions/answers on your website/blog, on your Facebook page or print it out and show it to your friends.

Get to know Pirate Parties from all over the world!