GreenerPolitics

Wow, has it been 100 days already?
Thanks to STV (a form of Proportional Representation), the Greens have been a political force in Ireland for many years now.  However, only after the last election have the Irish Green Party joined the governing coalition.  A bit controversial for Greens jumping in bed with the long-ruling party - the party leader resigned to make the coalition work better.  It would be like the Canadian Greens joining with the federal liberals as government.  Anyways from reading this article, it sounds like the party has been doing really well.  At the article’s end, there is a link to a letter that talks about the challenges the Greens have faced in office.
Ariel Lade, Foreign Correspondent.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vibrant Greens have 100 reasons to be cheerful

Saturday September 22 2007
www.independent.ie

THE Greens yesterday celebrated 100 days in Government and had extra reasons to be cheerful at a special party think-in at Aughrim, Co Wicklow.

(more…)

There are interesting issues that arise for Green parties around the world after they get seats. Politics, they say, is the art of compromise – especially once in government. In the German case the Greens want to get back into government…

…
These articles discuss the recent rejection of the membership of their leadership’s support of the NATO Afghanistan mission. The membership decided to go with majority public opinion in this case who want the German “peacekeepers” to come home.

…
In the 90s, many people wondered why the German Greens supported the Kosovo mission, considering the Global Green Party movement supports peace. It is the old trade-off between pragmatism and idealism. One day, Canadian Greens too will have to make these type of agonizing decisions.

…

Ariel Lade, Foreign Correspondent
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

German Greens won’t back Afghan mission
Published: Sept. 15, 2007 at 3:47 PM

BERLIN, Sept. 15 (UPI) — Germany’s Green Party voted Saturday to oppose keeping troops in Afghanistan.

The party held a special meeting during which the party voted against a motion to extend Germany’s participation in anti-terrorism operations. The military deployment issue will come before the Bundestag this fall.

Deutsche Welle said a counter proposal that was passed recommended Green Bundestag members vote to reject the extension of the mission.

Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier in the day publicly urged the Greens to support German presence in Afghanistan, calling it necessary to bolstering Germany’s security.

© Copyright United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

Articles on this topic:
Germany’s Green Party Split Over Afghanistan Mandate
German Greens Slide Into Turmoil
Germany’s Greens in disarray over Afghanistan

by Arden

The question of leadership is a critical issue in the Green Party. It is a paradox. If a person leads, the followers lose a portion of their freedom. Without a leader, nothing gets done. I think this article is cool.

by Tony Juniper, The Guardian

The Green party is presently engaged in a debate about its internal leadership structure. Should the party adopt a figurehead approach to leadership, or should it retain the arrangement whereby it has two fairly low profile “principal speakers”?

This is a very important question, because while green issues are rocketing into the mainstream, the political action needed to address challenges like climate change and resource depletion are nowhere near adequate. For example, while cuts in carbon dioxide emissions of at least 80% are needed by 2050, in the UK emissions are going up.

Read the rest of the article

In celebration of the tactics used by the Quebec police and the private investigators hired by the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, here is what may be coming down the pipe for us if we don’t stand up to infringements on our rights.

Sweating out the memories of East Berlin

By Don Murray, for CBC.ca

It was a state but never a country, a strange twilight place ruled by men driven by one imperative — to cage and control their citizens.

It has also become something of a vampire state, periodically rising from its coffin to haunt the memory of Germany. The German Democratic Republic, that Cold War relic, has once again visited the news columns. As usual, the news is nasty.

Read the rest of the article

From Swissinfo.org

Climate change has become Swiss voters’ biggest concern, according to a survey released two months before parliamentary elections.

The Green Party, currently the fifth-largest in Switzerland, looks set to capitalise on this to make gains at the polls in October.

The fifth election barometer carried out by the gfs.institute on behalf of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation – swissinfo’s parent company – shows that if votes were cast now, the Greens would gain 10.3 per cent.

This is a slight drop compared with the previous survey in June (10.9 per cent), but still 2.9 per cent more than in the last elections in 2003. This is a far higher increase than for any other political party over the same period.

Read the rest of the article