16 June 2007

Greens News - Here and Abroad

- the obvious news is that the Green Party has entered government in Ireland, in coalition with Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats. God knows how it will work, i.e. the Progressive Democrats are right-wing, and the Irish Greens failed to shift the government on issues such as halting the construction of a motorway through the historic Tara area of Co Meath. This is part of the ongoing realo-fundi debate within each Green Party, everywhere, about how accomodating you are to power, can you achieve more from outside pushing, or from the inside getting 1/3 or 1/2 of what you want.

- protesters have alerted German Green MP Hans-Christian Stroebele that reconnaissance jets conducted flyovers of a G8 protest camp in Reddelich near Heiligendamm. One of the planes flew over the camp at the lowest permitted altitude of 150 meters (492 feet) on June 5, one day before the summit kicked off. Stroebele claims the flyover had violated the German constitution. "It crosses all limits of acceptable technical help for the police, if reconnaissance fighter jets are used like in Afghanistan to spy on protesters," he told Spiegel Online.

- Finally, in Brighton, there seems to be a contest for the nomination for the Green candidate in Brighton Pavillion, our best chance for a MP in the next election. It would be between Caroline Lucas, MEP for the Southeast, and Keith Taylor, local councillor in Brighton. Both are former principal speakers of the party.

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