Green Parties Improve Prospects of Entering Government

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In recent years leaders of Green political parties have served in coalition governments of several countries. They could do this generally because they had done well in elections and so when coalition governments were formed they could enter the government in important positions and could influence government decisions,of course in favor of environment protection but often also in favor of peace and justice.

In the middle of several other adversities, this development should be welcomed.In the recent past Green Parties have been partners in coalition governments or Green Party members have served in governments of  Germany, Belgium , France, Italy, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden and New Zealand. In Latvia a Green Party leader is reported to have emerged as Prime Minister in 2004. Of course not all such participations have been equally successful and inspiring, but on the whole, taking an overview, this record has been good and encouraging.

On the other hand in the most influential country the USA the Green Party could have only only some local succeeses and not at the level of the federal government which remains dominated by the big two. But even here the Green Party could be influential in other ways as the agenda of a great green deal brought by it became a part of the mainstream political discourse, particularly with the Democratic Party.

Despite this already existing impressive record, the performance of the Green Party in the elections of Germany this year has been seen as a big breakthrough. The Green Party could achieve around 15% vote share to emerge at the third position, not that far behind the big two. It is likely to play a very important part in the next government.

What is more, it dared to put up its own candidate (Annalena Baerback) for the top political post of the Chancellor. While she lost, the fact that she was leading at number one position in the initial stage has been a big morale booster and gives hope that one day the Green Party candidate can actually win, or the party can race to the first position for forming the government in future.

The second and even more encouraging part of the recent election in Germany from the point of view of the Green Party was that in the 18-29 age-group of youngest voters, the Green Party could already emerge at the number one position with about 22% of the vote share. This has been reported to be 11% more than the share just about four years back, or a doubling within a short time, a very remarkable achievement.

There have been indications, in terms of support at gatherings and other reflections, that the even younger teenagers have also been very enthusiastic supporters, perhaps even more enthusiastic supporters for the Green Party, despite the fact that they have sometimes been called the Merkel generation, having grown during the long period of Angela Merkel as Chancellor. If this is true, then in next elections the Green Party can emerge even stronger, particularly if it performs well in the government.

The Green Party has also emerged strong in Scotland. There is also the European Green Party, or European Greens, which serves as a sort of federation for political parties with a green agenda in Europe.

With their increasing strength, one hopes that these political parties apart from serving their countries well will also strive to improve the prospects of peace, justice, equality, human rights and environment protection at world level too. Will they effectively take the side of more justice and equality for developing countries?

Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Protect Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children and Planet in Peril.

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