The Swedish political party that won a seat in the European parliament on a platform of free internet downloads and file-sharing is to stand in the country's local elections next year, it announced Thursday, according to dpa. Among issues the Pirate Party wants to push for in municipalities and schools was to introduce "open source code and free software," party leader Rick Falkvinge said in an op-ed piece in the Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter, saying the move could offer big savings. The Pirate Party also wishes to enhance public access to official documents by making them searchable online and accessible "around-the-clock," Falkvinge said. The public access principle is based on legislation from 1766. The party was also to champion efforts to "protect the privacy of citizens" for instance by challenging transport companies that have introduced electronic tickets that allow tracking of individual trips. Local elections coincide with national elections scheduled for September 2010. The party has previously said it plans to run for the Swedish parliament. Falkvinge said "only the sharpest representatives" would be allowed to stand in the local elections and the party would unlikely be able to field candidates in all 290 municipalities or 20 county councils. Surveys suggest the party's main base is among voters aged 18 to 30.
