The Green Party in Northern Ireland anounced its merger with the Green Party in the Republic of Ireland, (called Comhaontas Glas in Gaelic) today at a press conference held in Belfast, where a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to promote cooperative relations among the Greens in Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic, Scotland and England & Wales parties. Northern Ireland Greens will now achieve recognition as a Regional Council of Comhaontas Glas, with voting rights on its National Executive Committee.
According to Trevor Sargent, Irish Green Party Leader and one of six Green members of the Dáil (the lower house of Irish parliament), "Today's development means that people throughout the island of Ireland will now have the opportunity to vote for an inclusive and progressive political party with a great record of representation and achievement in local and town councils across the UK and Ireland, in the Scottish Assembly, in the Irish Parliament and in the European Parliament."
Northern Irish Green Leader Dr. John Barry added, "The Motion is a significant political signal that we aim to be a genuinely inclusive and progressive party, embodying and celebrating all identities and accommodating political aspirations in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement." Barry and colleagues claim that in this way, this North-South and East-West organization makes them the only party in Northern Ireland to not only support the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, but also to live it through their organizational arrangements.
I visited Northern Ireland in December 2004 and met with Barry and other local Greens, and was reminded of the difficulty of establishing a viable Green identity in a place where ethnic and/or religious divide are paramount. Despite this, the Northern Irish Greens have been slowly growing, including winning three city council seats in 2005. Now they are shooting for seats in the Northern Irish Assembly - in north Down, south Down and south Belfast. Here is their election platform, called "Greens Into Government."
How will they do? It may seem like a long shot today for them to elect members to the Assembly. But I am reminded of a similar situation of the Scottish Greens in the early 1990s, when they were struggling for a Green identity amidst the desire for Scottish regional autonomy from England and the central government in London.
Then Scotland got proportional representation and in May 1999, Robin Harper became the first Scottish Green to be elected to the Scottish Parliament. Four years later in 2003, he was joined by six other Greens to give the Scottish Greens seven parliamentary seats.
Who knows? Maybe we'll see the same thing in Northern Ireland - maybe even with the next election.
Monday, December 4, 2006
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Mexico - Calderon assumes office amidst protests
Anyone who followed the news yesterday saw film of the protests in the chamber of the Mexican Federal Legislature - La Camara de Diputados - against the swearing in of Felipe Calderon as El Presidente of the nation. Opponents tried to prevent Calderon from reaching the podium to take the oath of office. And this was all broadcast en vivo for the world to see.
As I am often want to do, I watched the newscast last night on Univision, one of the many Spanish-language newscasts available here in Los Angeles. (This not only helps me improve my Spanish, but its amazing to see the difference in what is covered between the Spanish and English language media.)
During one moment I saw someone I knew in the crowd on the floor -- the president of the Mexican Green Party El Partido Verde Ecologista de Mexico (PVEM), Jorge Emilio Gonzalez. This made me think I wanted to know what was going on with the Mexican Greens.
Currently on the PVEM web site, there is a polite press release about moving ahead for the good of the country. There is always 'backstory' of course, so I'm making inquiries and hope to have more in a few days. Stay tuned.
As I am often want to do, I watched the newscast last night on Univision, one of the many Spanish-language newscasts available here in Los Angeles. (This not only helps me improve my Spanish, but its amazing to see the difference in what is covered between the Spanish and English language media.)
During one moment I saw someone I knew in the crowd on the floor -- the president of the Mexican Green Party El Partido Verde Ecologista de Mexico (PVEM), Jorge Emilio Gonzalez. This made me think I wanted to know what was going on with the Mexican Greens.
Currently on the PVEM web site, there is a polite press release about moving ahead for the good of the country. There is always 'backstory' of course, so I'm making inquiries and hope to have more in a few days. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
May Oui - Elizabeth May places 2nd for the House of Commons
Great news from across the border - last night Elizabeth May, the Party Leader of the Green Party of Canada, finished an impressive second among the four major parties, in a special election for Canada's House of Commons.
May was elected Party Leader at a national Green Party convention in late August in Ottawa. As her own blog indicates, since then she's been shifting the focus of Canadian political debate around issues of around environment and economy. With Stephen Harper's minority Tory government abandoning Canada's committment to the Kyoto Protocol, May has been constantly in the news, demonstrating to political friend and foe alike that she knows her issues and is capable of governing (for some reason you have to reload that last link twice to see it.)
Then came an open seat and a special election in London, Ontario with the resignation of the sitting Liberal Party MP there. The election was called for November 27th (the Canadians call these 'by-elections'.) Elizabeth dove right into the fray, without a worry that a poor finish would undercut the momentum her election as Party Leader created.
In Canada's January Federal election, the Canadian Greens received 4.5% nationally. Now polls have them at 10%, in no small part to Elizabeth's impact -- and may I add, the impact of the GPC's convention being broadcast live over three days by CPAC, the Canadian C-SPAN. Kudos to Jim Harris, national Party Leader from 2002-2006, whose acumen and foresight helped the party leap forward in the 2002 and 2004 Federal Elections, to position themselves for this moment.
Elizabeth is gifted with ability to express herself brillianty, and with the savvy to swim among sharks when necessary. It was a bold move to run in this race, the kind of move a winner makes.
In a classic quote after her impressive result, Elizabeth said "Mark this down and mark it well: when someone in a future election says that we will split the vote so the worst party (whichever) can get in, point out we are not vote splitters. We are vote unifiers under a new banner."
In comparing her result with the party's numbers in same district in January Federal Election, the Green increase came from across the political spectrum - 6% from the Liberals, 6% from the Conservatives and 9% from the NDP - the latter especially significant with the potential to help the Greens pass the NDP.
"May Oui" was the chant of Elizabeth's supporters at the August Green convention, playing upon the double entendre in this English and often French-speaking country. One can just imagine what she and the Canadian Greens can accomplish with the platform of seats in the House of Commons. Here is an example of her Green Economic Development Strategy for London from her campaign.
Post-election coverage has been very positive, including
- "Green Party's showing in London's by-election hints at something big",
- "Green Party confidence grows",
- "Green machine: In light of the by-election in London, is it time to start taking the Green Party seriously?",
- "Green party 'has arrived' after finishing 2nd in byelection",
- "May won many hearts, but not enough minds",
- "Greens claim moral victory",
- "Election Results Bouy May"
- "Green Party Growing" and this pre-election piece
- "Tall Poppy Interview" in the Torontoist
For insightful post-election analysis, see Jim Harris' blog "Greens Come of Age: London Result shows we'll win seats. Liberal Strategy: Pretend to be Green."
May was elected Party Leader at a national Green Party convention in late August in Ottawa. As her own blog indicates, since then she's been shifting the focus of Canadian political debate around issues of around environment and economy. With Stephen Harper's minority Tory government abandoning Canada's committment to the Kyoto Protocol, May has been constantly in the news, demonstrating to political friend and foe alike that she knows her issues and is capable of governing (for some reason you have to reload that last link twice to see it.)
Then came an open seat and a special election in London, Ontario with the resignation of the sitting Liberal Party MP there. The election was called for November 27th (the Canadians call these 'by-elections'.) Elizabeth dove right into the fray, without a worry that a poor finish would undercut the momentum her election as Party Leader created.In Canada's January Federal election, the Canadian Greens received 4.5% nationally. Now polls have them at 10%, in no small part to Elizabeth's impact -- and may I add, the impact of the GPC's convention being broadcast live over three days by CPAC, the Canadian C-SPAN. Kudos to Jim Harris, national Party Leader from 2002-2006, whose acumen and foresight helped the party leap forward in the 2002 and 2004 Federal Elections, to position themselves for this moment.
Elizabeth is gifted with ability to express herself brillianty, and with the savvy to swim among sharks when necessary. It was a bold move to run in this race, the kind of move a winner makes.
In a classic quote after her impressive result, Elizabeth said "Mark this down and mark it well: when someone in a future election says that we will split the vote so the worst party (whichever) can get in, point out we are not vote splitters. We are vote unifiers under a new banner."
In comparing her result with the party's numbers in same district in January Federal Election, the Green increase came from across the political spectrum - 6% from the Liberals, 6% from the Conservatives and 9% from the NDP - the latter especially significant with the potential to help the Greens pass the NDP.
"May Oui" was the chant of Elizabeth's supporters at the August Green convention, playing upon the double entendre in this English and often French-speaking country. One can just imagine what she and the Canadian Greens can accomplish with the platform of seats in the House of Commons. Here is an example of her Green Economic Development Strategy for London from her campaign.
Post-election coverage has been very positive, including
- "Green Party's showing in London's by-election hints at something big",
- "Green Party confidence grows",
- "Green machine: In light of the by-election in London, is it time to start taking the Green Party seriously?",
- "Green party 'has arrived' after finishing 2nd in byelection",
- "May won many hearts, but not enough minds",
- "Greens claim moral victory",
- "Election Results Bouy May"
- "Green Party Growing" and this pre-election piece
- "Tall Poppy Interview" in the Torontoist
For insightful post-election analysis, see Jim Harris' blog "Greens Come of Age: London Result shows we'll win seats. Liberal Strategy: Pretend to be Green."
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