Pajunen suggests municipal ordinances be put back into force. Writing on his blog, Pajunen says such ordinances would require enforcement. He adds that local communities could be given the right to issue on-the-spot fines for those committing offences.
Pajunen expressed his views in light of the ongoing debate on street begging in Finland.
A working group set up by Minister of the Interior Anne Holmlund is looking into the prohibition of begging. The group plans to examine if amendments to existing public order legislation could enable such a ban. Public order legislation was last amended in 2002-2003 when municipal ordinances were abolished.
Helsinki in particular has seen an influx of Eastern European beggars in the past couple of years.
The matter was first reported in the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.