Green Party Watch

The Huffington Post reports:

HELSINKI — The conservative favorite easily won the first round of Finland’s presidential election Sunday, setting up a runoff against an environmentalist leader who is the first openly gay candidate to run for head of state in the Nordic country…

With all votes counted, Pekka Haavisto, of the Greens party, was second with 18.8 percent, securing his place in the Feb. 5 runoff. read more »

From the European Green Party:

On 5 January the good news arrived that the Greens of Belarus, Bielaruskaja Partyja “Zialonye”, have been accepted as a legally recognised party by the state Ministry of Justice, after the Ministry accepted the outcomes of the congress of the party in November 2011. Now that the party is recognised, it can participate in the upcoming elections this April. Aleh Novikau will lead the party into the election after he was re-elected as the party’s Chairman for the next 4 years. read more »

Global Greens will hold its third international conference this year in Dakar, Senegal, from March 29th to April 1st. From the Global Greens website:

Greens from around the world are warmly invited to join us for Global Greens Congress 2012 in Dakar, Senegal, from 29 March to 1 April 2012.  Pre-registration is now open.  If you’re considering coming to Congress you can sign up to recieve all the latest information and announcements about Dakar 2012.  Members of the Global Green family are also invited to submit proposals in preparation for the Congress. (Read more)

Global Young Greens will also be holding a congress in the preceding days, from March 27th to March 29th. Check out the Global Young Greens website for more information about the congress and how to register.

Green Prophet has published a detailed article about the Egyptian Green Party:

Egypt’s green environmental party was founded 25 years ago for green and social change – long before the Arab Spring. The Green Party is working to show Egyptians and the Arab world the connection between their issues and the environment. read more »

TVNZ has this story out about the New Zealand Green Party’s 14th MP, Mojo Mathers, who is deaf.

I can’t embed the video here, so I encourage you to watch the story there.

Here is some additional information about Mojo Mathers from the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand:

Date and place of birth: 23/11/1966, London

Ethnicity Pakeha

Current electorate Christchurch East

Educational qualifications Honours degree in Mathematics (1st class); Masters in Conservation Forestry (Distinction)

Current occupation Green Party Strategic Policy Advisor (since 2006)

Previous occupations/work experience Parliamentary advisor (water issues) 2005; Joint owner small business offering forestry management services (2001-2006)

Community connections Current committee member of Disability Inclusion Group; Founding member of Malvern Hills Protection Society, which successfully opposed the Central Plains Water scheme; Secretary/spokesperson for the Dam Action Group (2001-2004); Mother of three, former playcentre committee member

Policy Interests/Expertise I have a sound grounding in a wide range of policy areas and I would be comfortable covering nearly any portfolio area including rural issues, biodiversity, forestry and water, as well as animal welfare, disability and women’s rights.

My broad political issues Unrestrained industrial dairying continues to impact heavily on our environment, including climate change. We need to promote fair and sustainable alternatives.

The recent Human Rights Commission review of Human Rights identifies disabled people as the most disadvantaged minority in New Zealand. As a deaf person who lives and breathes green issues, I am a strong advocate for inclusion for everyone.

Additional information I strive to reduce my personal impact on the environment by being vegetarian, supporting GE free, non-toxic, organic, fair trade and local, using public transport, keeping myself informed and getting involved. I have a strong work ethic and am very accessible by email.

The European Greens published the following press release on Tuesday, December 6:

According to the OSCE international observers, several violations of basic rights accompanied the elections in Russia, in particular irregularities in the election process.

“We are seriously concerned by what was observed by the OSCE international observers”, said Monica Frassoni, European Green party spokesperson.  “Elections are a major element of democracy, in Russia and anywhere, and should benefit from the outmost transparency. We call on the Council of Europe to immediately address the violation of basic rights witnessed by international observers during the elections, and call on the Russian authorities to respect the right of protest of citizens”. read more »

The New Zealand Green Party recorded its best result yet in New Zealand’s November 26 general election. The Greens earned 10.6% of the vote (up from 6.7% in 2008) and increased their number of seats in parliament from 9 to 13. The party could also gain a fourteenth seat if their percentage grows when special votes are counted, according to party leaders. The Green Party is now New Zealand’s 3rd largest party, after National and Labour.

See Wikipedia articles on the New Zealand General Election 2011 and New Zealand Green Party for more information.

In Spain’s recent general election, which was marked by a victory for the conservative People’s Party, Spain’s young Green party (EQUO) doubled its vote from the previous election. From the European Green Party:

Votes for Green parties doubled in when compared to the last parliamentary election three years ago in Spain; however the absolute majority obtained by the PP in the latest elections marks the beginning of a dark period for the country.

In Catalonia the EGP member party ICV consolidated their growing trend with a historical result and an important growth from 1 to 3 seats.

Overall, the newly-born party EQUO got over 300,000 votes all over the country, a good result for a party only two months old, which suffered from from the election being called early. It nonetheless managed to reach 2% of the vote in Madrid and 1.5% nationally in such a short time. Furthermore, the Compromis-Equo coalition obtained parliamentary representation thanks to the one seat gained in Valencia. read more »

From Straight.com in Vancouver, Canada:

Adriane Carr calls her win in the Vancouver civic election last weekend a “victory for democracy”.

On a budget of about $15,000, the Green candidate managed to secure a city council seat, narrowly beating out COPE councillor Ellen Woodsworth by 91 votes. The win marks the first city council spot for the Green party in Vancouver. read more »

On top of polls that show the New Zealand Green Party heading for its best result yet in this weekend’s general election, here’s more good news for the Kiwi Greens’ future:

Otautahi Youth Council, an independent Christchurch-based youth body, ran an online project targeted at Cantabrians between 14 and 24, simulating the general election experience…

The results showed participants overwhelmingly preferred the Green party, giving them 53 per cent of the party vote, compared to 26 per cent for National and 22 per cent for Labour.

Read the full article at The Press NZ.

From the European Green Party:

Eurocrisis: Green Paris Declaration adopted

European Green Parties representatives adopted in Paris a 12-points political proposal to step out of the current financial, social and economic crisis affecting Europe, and a roadmap for the refounding of the European project: European Greens are convinced that the European project needs to find a new sense of direction and purpose.

“These crises are eroding social cohesion and leading to political disintegration of the continent, driving us to irrelevance in the 21st century. Any scenario leading to the break-up of the Euro-zone, which would be the first step of the political disintegration of Europe, is unacceptable to us. Conversely though, any enhanced political integration of the Euro-zone cannot lead to the crystallization of a two-speed Europe”, said Philippe Lamberts, MEP and co-chair of the European Green Party. read more »

From the National Post:

A pair of democratic rights groups are teaming up in a legal battle that is urging the nation’s top court to strike down Canada’s first-past-the-post electoral system on the grounds that it doesn’t protect guarantees under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The case would argue that the Constitution protects the right of Canadians to have “effective representation,” which goes beyond having the right to cast a ballot.The two groups, the Association for the Advancement of Democratic Rights and Fair Vote Canada, have also earned an endorsement from Green Party leader Elizabeth May. “The key issue is not that it’s unfair to the Green Party,” May said Tuesday at a news conference with representatives from the two groups. “It’s unfair to democracy. It’s unfair to voters, and I think it’s a big reason for the decline in voter turnout.”

May noted that more than 80% of people vote in Scandinavian countries and some other European nations, but she said the lowest voter turnouts in the world occur in countries with first-past-the-post systems, such as Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, where governments can be elected with majorities despite having received less than 50% of the ballots cast in elections.

Read the full article at the National Post.

The Green New Deal, a concept that British and American Greens have been promoting as an approach to solving the world’s economic and ecological crises together, has also been adopted by the European Green Party, who have unveiled a new multilingual website devoted to the Green New Deal. According to the site, “The Green New Deal is the Greens’ comprehensive response to the current economic, social and environmental crises. It aims to ensure prosperity and well-being for all, across the planet and generations, based on reducing inequalities within and between societies, and reconciling our lifestyles – the way we live, produce and consume – with the physical limits of our planet. ”

Check out the site at GreenNewDeal.eu.

On Tuesday, the Australian government, led by the Labour Party with support from the Green Party and independents, passed Australia’s first-ever carbon pricing legislation. After 2010 elections, the Green Party agreed to form a coalition with Labour in exchange for action on issues including the carbon tax. From Reuters:

Australia accounts for just 1.5 percent of global emissions, but is the developed world’s highest emitter per capita due to a reliance on coal to generate electricity. ..

It sets a fixed carbon tax of A$23 ($23.78) a tonne on the top 500 polluters from July 2012, then moves to an emissions trading scheme from July 2015. Companies involved will need a permit for every tonne of carbon they emit. … read more »

Falkvinge reports that the European Green Party has adopted a digital rights position that calls for legalizing filesharing, guaranteeing net neutrality and reducing copyright restrictions, a position similar to that of the growing Pirate Party:

The fifth largest party group in the European Parliament has adopted the Pirate Party positions on the copyright monopoly straight off the bat. This is a huge victory for the pirate perspective. Just like the Greens needed time and effort in their time to explain their new and odd perspective, the pirate perspective of openness, transparency and accountability gradually gains its foothold. Now, the European Green group (of which the Swedish Pirate Party is a member) has adopted the Pirate Party’s perspective on culture completely. This expands the exposure area of the pirate perspective considerably.

For more details on the position staked out by the European Greens on digital rights, read the full article at Falkvinge.