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I think we will be seeing a whole trend towards Green this year...I think it will be huge in Switzerland.

"Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
by whataboutbob on Sun May 13th, 2007 at 03:52:13 PM EST
The Greens did make impressive gains in Iceland..

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde
by NordicStorm (m<-at->sturmbaum.net) on Sun May 13th, 2007 at 04:12:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The greens would have to 1) not run as two separate parties; and 2) get about 3x more vores than last time; in order to get any seats in the Madrid city council.

Bush is a symptom, not the disease.
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun May 13th, 2007 at 06:02:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Mostly because there is a vote threshold of 5% to get seats, but due to the assembly consisting of 57 councillors, once you make it past 5% you're guaranteed three seats.

I fail to see the point of a 57-member assembly when the councillors are elected on party lists in a single district with a 5% threshold. They might as well have 19 seats. That's a 3x bloated collection of parasite councillors.

If I were King, I would make each of the 21 districts of the city elect two councillors on personal votes with single transferable voting, and 15 on city-wide party lists to improve overall proportionality.

Bush is a symptom, not the disease.

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 04:55:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]
An exception is unfortunately likely to be France, where les Verts have just announced they are pulling out of their electoral pact with the PS. Whether that's a wise decision or not I don't know, but it certainly means a long, hard slog to rebuild a credible green party. Either that, or the opponents of an alignment with the left (the supposed "apolitical" greens) will take the party wandering off into the marshes signposted "Neutrality", "the Centre", etc.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 02:44:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The infighting within the Greens has become the stuff of legend - or more to the point, it has been so loud that it has obliterated any message that the Greens might have wanted to get across.

So they are going to get obliterated in next month's parliamentary elections, and will only exist politically locally, in cities where they are in a working alliance with the socialists (like in Paris, where they had a major say in shaping transport policy, for instance).

It's a pathtic waste that their ideas are completely drowned out, mostly for 'purity' reasons (because it makes it easy to caricature them as out of touch).

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 04:49:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]
There has been a split between the conservative and Left Greens in Switzerland too...which is really too bad. For example, if they were still one party in the recent Zurich election, they would hold something like 29 seats, which is significant. Stil, the Left Greens are making huge gains in Switzerland...though the SP will be feeling the brunt of their growth, I fear...

"Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
by whataboutbob on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 05:30:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Just because you're "green" doesn't mean you can't have strong opinions on other issues. I imagine the split between "left" and "right" greens is similar to the difference between "social liberal" and "right-liberal" parties. Some countries have no liberal party, some have one with two wings, and some have two.

By "conservative greens" do you mean a hunting/fishing/rural party, or an economic liberal green party?

Bush is a symptom, not the disease.

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 05:37:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]
You know, I'm not sure exactly...Lil has been a Green for a long time here in St Gallen, and I will have to ask her...but my sense was that here it was almost a personality/ideology difference, ie., that the Left Greens were more progressive, even radical in how they thought about environmental issues and approaches. The "conservative" side seemed much more cautious and controlled. But surely it is more than this...I'll check it out...

"Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
by whataboutbob on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 07:09:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Sounds like Fundis vs. Realos.

Bush is a symptom, not the disease.
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 09:12:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Given the way the PS behaves in negociations with its allies, with "take it or leave it" proposals, it's easy to understand Les Verts would refuse a proposal once in a while. The vagaries of a non-proportional parliament election. This row was more probably caused by PS's toughness than from any desire of the greens to go to a "neutral center" position.

And the French greens aren't only active in cities ; they have strong positions in the regions and European Parliament... (I think many here would like, say, Alain Lipietz, one of the Green MEPs)

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 05:26:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]
this time is the natural result of absolute weakness of the Greens in this election. It almost looks like charity at this point.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 05:55:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]
This kind of behavior from the PS (who isn't any nicer after a good showing from the greens, anyway) means the next time, vote utile will be that much less attractive...

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 11:24:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The PS is in a position of awesome strength, these days, too...

Bush is a symptom, not the disease.
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 11:28:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Les Verts have their reasons to complain about the PS, I agree, and not just on electoral matters. There's still a strong productivist streak in the PS old base, and considerable suspicion of green stuff. That's one of the reasons (and has been for sooo long) why the PS needs to change.

All the same, it seems some of the Green political neutralists won out in this decision - according to Noël Mamère, anyway.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 11:39:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It's actually the best result the Green Party EVER got in Germany. Impressive 37% in Bremen- Mitte. And with the left now in a Western parliament for the first time, we're moving to a 5-party-system.

"If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles." Sun Tzu
by Turambar (sersguenda at hotmail com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 06:05:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]
A 5-party system wouldn't be a bad thing.

Bush is a symptom, not the disease.
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 14th, 2007 at 09:14:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Depends on the parties involved. If it was the extreme right that came out this strong, I would be worried. But Lafontaine's Left becoming part of coalitions in the West (and de-radicalising itself in the process) would be a good thing.
I predict 20% for the Left in the next Saarland elections.

"If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles." Sun Tzu
by Turambar (sersguenda at hotmail com) on Tue May 15th, 2007 at 10:34:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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