Area man predicts a bright green future for the Green Party… But then he would. He’s their leader. June 23, 2011
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Irish Politics.trackback
From the Green Party conference:
Guest speaker Swedish MP Agneta Borjesson outlined how the Swedish Green Party rebuilt after enduring electoral wipeout following its first period in government. Referring to her contribution, Mr Ryan said: “In 20 years we should have 25 members of Dáil Éireann and follow your example.”
Okay.
Erm… following what example?
I can’t find any evidence that it suffered an ‘electoral wipeout’ following its first ‘period in government’. And this should not come as a surprise since to date the SGP has never been in government.
Their own website indicates that:
In 1988, the party entered parliament with 5.5 % of the votes, resulting in 20 seats. With the exception of the period 1991-1994, the Swedish Green Party has been in parliament since. In the 2006 elections, the party got 5.2 % of the votes. In the latest elections to the EU parliament, in 2009, the Swedish Green Party gained 11 % and 2 seats. The Swedish Green MEPs are part of the Green Group in the parliament.
In local councils and regional councils, the success has been more stable. Thereby, the local environmental work has also come a long way.
In 1998, the Swedish Green Party became holder of the balance of power. This resulted in cooperation with the governing Social Democrats and the Left Party, with an influence over government politics but no minister. This cooperation was brought to an end after the September 2006 elections, as the right wing parties gained majority in parliament and were able to form government.
Now in fairness to Ryan he is not reported as making the comment. And in fairness to Borjesson I can’t find a direct quote… but… well…
Anyhow, there are other differences. The SGP while not defining itself as left wing is clearly positioned on the left of centre in a way that the Irish GP simply hasn’t. So much so that in negotiations with the Social Democrats….
In view of the 2010 elections, the former cooperation partners have established a formal red-green cooperation aiming to form a new government together, with working groups preparing common policy documents and statements on different policy areas. However, in the elections in September, the right wing parties managed to hold on to power, however as a minority government. The Greens gained 7.3 % and became the third largest party in parliament.
And according to all reports that cooperation continues. I wonder is that a model that Eamon Ryan might wish to emulate? Somehow I doubt it.
As someone said in response to an earlier post on the reshaping of the Green narrative who would expect Eamon Ryan to appear and say ‘It’s all over bar the shouting’? But this report suggests that there may be some problems in the narrative being shaped.
Actually, it’s also interesting to visit the Green Party website here where according to a short piece on elected representatives:
Elected representatives
The Green Party has two senators and an MLA. At local government level the Party has councillors on county, city and town council levels in the Republic, and district council level in the North.
Some might find the history of the party also interesting, you’ll find it here, an history which appears to end in May 2007. Some might hope that that isn’t symbolic.
I dunno about the positioning point you make. Pre-2007, I think it’s fair to say that the Greens were “clearly positioned” as a left of centre party. That perception is a bit hard to stomach given the nature of the last government, sure, but I reckon that most people would still classify it as a left of centre party, much in the same way that most people will say the same of Labour once this government ends.
Post 2007-11 I think very few would consider the GP to be left of centre, whatever the intentions of some of those within it. I wonder though about pre 2007. On some issues they appeared to be left of centre, but on others I think there was an ambiguity or an under developed policy platform that was de facto far more liberal/centrist
I think most in the Greens and many beyond would have peddled the ‘neither left nor right, but forward’ line. In other words, right.
I can’t summon the energy to point out again the other-worldliness of Mr. Ryan.
However, the strongest Green Party in Europe, the German one, would seem quite comfortable with going into coalition with the CDU/CSU in the forthcoming elections rather than automatically plumping for the SPD (erstwhile social democrats). Many in Merkel’s party see them as natural allies with the eclipse of the FDP (idealogical neo-libs), which goes a long way to explain the CDU/CSU’s new policy of phasing out nuclear power. Both potential partners dislike die Linke equally, and implicitly rule them out of coalition.
All of which is pretty suggestive about the class composition of the German Greens.
If I was a betting man I would wager that both in 2007 and in 2011 60-80% of the active members of the Green Party would prefer an alliance with the Labour Party to an alliance with either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. The problem is that the Labour Party can’t deliver anything near a majority.