The 2 Green leadership contenders in Canada will be holding two televised debates in June which will also be available on line.
If you want to ask them some questions (in french or english), go here https://secure.greenparty.ca/questions.php
Their personal websites: www.davidc.ca and www.elizabethmay.ca
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Finland: Finnish Russia expert challenges points of Green MP's speech
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Finnish+Russia+expert+challenges+points+of+Green+MP’s+speech/1135220159888
Czech Republic: final results: Greens won 6.29% with 336,500 votes and only 6 seats
http://www.volby.cz/pls/ps2006/ps?xjazyk=EN
EU: Czech parliamentary elections: Greens victory brings a breath of fresh air to Czech politics
http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/default/dok/127/127272.czech_parliamentary_elections@en.htm
Czech Republic: Moving to a lighter shade of Green
http://www.cbw.cz/phprs/2006060507.html
Czech Republic: Greens' joy from election results mixed with scepticism
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=192002
Czech Republic: Greens to negotiate with ODS, national council to debate future
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=192194
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New Zealand: John Armstrong's Op-Ed: Nearest thing to surrogate Rod Donald
[read the full article below]
New Zealand: Op-Ed: Greens make smart choice for a sustainable future
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3690824a6220,00.html
New Zealans: Interview with Russel Norman: Co-leader may be Green but not around the gills
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/organisation/story.cfm?o_id=278&ObjectID=10385007
New Zealand: Greens ready to reassess ties to Labour
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/organisation/story.cfm?o_id=278&ObjectID=10385051
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New Zealand: Greens' co-leader warns Labour
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3690144a6160,00.html
New Zealand: Norman causes a stir in maiden speech
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/739152
New Zealand: Greens hit out at both Labour and National policies
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200606041737/2648d76e
New Zealand: Greens co-leader seen as conservative move
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=97143
The election of Russel Norman is being seen as a crisis of confidence in the Green Party. Political commentator Graham Hunt says the party has gone for a relative unknown, but Mr Norman is not going to offend anyone. He says the Greens are concerned about the bad publicity attached to Mr Tanczos, particularly with his stance on marijuana reform. He suspects that is why members went for someone a bit more conservative. Graham Hunt reckons the Greens might run into a bit of trouble with Russel Norman being a greenhorn, as far as politics is concerned.
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UK: Gay community urged to ensure faith support
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-1658.html
Austria: Zuwanderung als Zündstoff im Wahlkampf
[de] http://www.kurier.at/nachrichten/oesterreich/11411.php
Austria: Lopatka: Grüne "zur Einsicht gelangt"
[de] http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=2468178
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Czech Republic: Politicians support change to election system to avoid draw
http://www.ctk.cz/english/services/english/index_view.php?id=192132
The parliamentary parties' leaders agree they would like to change the current election system to avoid an election draw in the future, they said in a debate on Prima television today... Greens deputy chairwoman Dana Kuchtova admitted that the current election system catapulted her party to parliament, but she added that the original system was better in her opinion. "If the system had really been proportional, we would have had 14 mandates [instead of the current 6]. The Greens will definitely strive for a change," Kuchtova said. She at the same time she rejected a majority election system.
Czech Republic: Parties except for KSCM condemn Paroubek's statements
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=192049
Prague- Representatives of the Civic Democrats (ODS), the Green Party (SZ) and the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) have condemned the statement by PM and Social Democrat (CSSD) chairman Jiri Paroubek who questioned the validity of the general election today... Greens chairman Martin Bursik said that Paroubek had not endured the election results. "He [Paroubek] is no statesman who is capable to lead the country," said Bursik. Bursik said that Paroubek can forget about possible cooperation with the Greens. The Greens leadership has also adopted a resolution banning the Greens from supporting a government connected with the Communists (KSCM). The Greens national council approved a similar resolution last autumn. Bursik compared Paroubek's vocabulary with the words used during the communist framed-up trial of democratic politician Milada Horakova in the 1950s. She was the only woman executed for political reasons during the communist regime.
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Australia: Keep it green, not gay
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19379031-25090,00.html
A SECRETIVE sect accused of conducting a smear campaign against the Greens met Greens leader Bob Brown in Canberra yesterday to tell him an inquiry into their activities would be "religious vilification". Before the Tasmanian election, people wearing animal masks drove through the streets of Hobart towing a trailer with anti-Green slogans, warning that the party was "socially destructive". Richard Garrett, one of the members of the Christian movement the Exclusive Brethren, refused to speak to Strewth but allowed Brown to record the conversation. The brethren told him they supported the John Howard Government and were concerned about proposals being put forward on matters such as same-sex marriage, as it was "completely and utterly wrong. It's against God." Brown thought the fact that he's gay could be one of their issues. "They said we should stick to the environment because they would be OK (with that)," he said.
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New Zealand: John Armstrong's Op-Ed: Nearest thing to surrogate Rod Donald
[New Zealand Herald Jun 5 2006]
Russel who? It matters little that the new male co-leader of the Greens is a relative unknown who has kept a low profile and who, as a non-MP, will have his work cut out to raise it. Russel Norman is the right man for the job. The 39-year-old is the closest the Greens will come to finding a surrogate Rod Donald even if they insist they were not looking for one. Like Donald, Norman has a long pedigree as a political activist both in New Zealand, where he has lived for the last 10 years, and Australia, where he was born. Like Donald, his idealism is tempered by realism and pragmatism - the key ingredients Donald injected into the party and which made him the perfect foil to Jeanette Fitzsimons. Unlike Donald, Norman is far more identifiably left-wing, his politics less grounded in environmentalism. The Greens' campaign manager during last year's election, his practical experience from working in various backroom roles over the years has an intellectual underpinning in the form of a PhD thesis on the politics of Jim Anderton's Alliance. A low charisma quotient is compensated by him communicating the Green message clearly and succinctly. He still has to learn how to project that message so people sit up and take note. When the questions get tricky, he has that politician's patter which sounds good but says nothing. Being Australian, he can be blunt, however. The Greens are polite to a fault. Norman should toughen them up. His biggest advantage in Saturday's co-leader election at the Greens conference was that he did not carry any political baggage - unlike Nandor Tanczos. Norman sold himself as the fresh face who could lead the break-out of the Greens from their metropolitan inner-city sanctuaries into the more vote-rich suburbs and provincial cities. It is a tall order. Success or failure will be easy to measure. However, it is a strategy, whereas Tanczos had the stumbling block of party members not being able to see past his advocacy of cannabis law reform which they feared would inevitably obstruct the party's wider message from reaching its audience. His candidacy was also seen by some as divisive as it challenged the status quo both in terms of the Greens' "brand" and their positioning on Labour's left. However, the latter restricts their bargaining power. Tanczos's brutal but accurate assessment of the party's weaknesses is already having an impact with Fitzsimons opening the door very slightly to working with National, rather than the Greens dealing solely with Labour. Tanczos deserves some applause for that, but Norman's win was never really in doubt. The Fitzsimons-Norman pairing seems neatly balanced, with Norman as the apprentice and no one in doubt as to who has seniority. Having no parliamentary responsibilities, Norman can concentrate on rejuvenating the party organisation which Fitzsimons believes is relying too much on the parliamentary wing to carry the beacon.
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In the previous issue I forgot to send this op-ed written before Norman Russel was elected.
New Zealand: John Armstrong: Much for Greens to chew on
[from the New Zealand Herald; for subscribers only]
Voters think what the party is saying is confused, predictable and even stale. Its position on the political spectrum consigns it to relative impotence. The upper levels of the organisation are wracked by an unhealthy and unproductive culture of workaholism. The party does not cherish its members. Good ideas suffer a death by a thousand sub-committees. And so on. It's the Greens, Jeanette, but not as you would want us to know you. The six-week campaign to choose the party's new male co-leader has been a civilised affair - on the surface at least. But it has been no less frank for being so. The biting criticisms listed above are sourced from material issued to members by the four contenders fighting to fill the post. The personal lobbying will have been even more direct. Barring any last-minute tantrums, however, the Greens will have done what Act failed to do in 2004: conduct a multi-candidate leadership election over a period of weeks without spilling the party's guts in public. That is a tribute to the Greens' self-discipline. The finale comes late this afternoon when the Silverstream Retreat in the Hutt Valley will echo to thunderous applause as the party announces the successor to the late Rod Donald. Celebrations aside, the co-leadership election has brought matters to the fore that the Greens have long been reluctant to address or have pushed into the background. Regardless of who ends up standing alongside Jeanette Fitzsimons - be it the intellectually impressive, but emotionally detached Russel Norman or the more outwardly warmer, but more polarising Nandor Tanczos - the "new" leadership pairing cannot pretend the internal debate over the last six weeks did not happen. The choice is clear. The party can either continue to drift ever closer to the 5 per cent threshold before eventually slipping over the edge. Or it breaks out of its ideological comfort zone and gets serious about capturing a new tier of voters who are partially turned on by some of the things the Greens would do but completely turned off by others.
That means grappling with six things:
1. Work out what the Green "brand" really means. The leadership election has brought the argument about party direction to a head. Should the party's primary focus be placed overwhelmingly on environmental matters - as argued by Tanczos. Or is the delivery of social justice inextricably intertwined with ensuring environmental sustainability - as suggested by Norman? The latter argues that social justice policies - raising the minimum wage, for example - are crucial to expanding the Greens' vote. Tanczos counters that this only dilutes the Greens' brand and leaves the party stranded on Labour's left. If the Greens can only strike deals with Labour, it has no leverage over Labour. Should the party reposition itself more independently of Labour? Should it do the unthinkable and relax its point-blank refusal to prop up a National-led Government? If Norman wins - and he remains the front-runner - there will be mutterings about "left-wing takeovers", especially with Sue Bradford being a potential successor to Fitzsimons in the next parliamentary term. There is a groundswell of opinion that social justice issues are getting too much attention. But this mood is probably not deep enough to help Tanczos. His chances are diminished by the party's "anti-conflict" ethos, which in turn should help Norman, who is the "safe" candidate.
2. Cut the plethora of messages to voters to several core items. Increase their coherence. Sharpen the delivery. The Greens have used the personal passions of their MPs to tap into constituencies. These vary from "safe food" campaigns dealing with the content of school lunches to trying to close the Waihopai satellite-tracking station. This should continue. But on a secondary level. Tanczos has called this the "politics of addition" and argues it has reached it limits. Votes rarely swing on single issues which, in the Greens' case, need to be packaged under some core themes which would be pushed to the forefront on the back of three or for major core issues. These must also "connect" with voters' daily lives. So when the party talks climate change, it always talks about solar heating in the same breath.
3. Stop looking for the "hot" issue to replace genetic engineering. There isn't one. These come along once a decade. GE was a winner for the Greens because the party was almost alone in being on the right side of public opinion, which was heavily skewed against GE and vehemently so. Climate change is in a different category. Everyone agrees it is not a good thing. But it is not going to happen tomorrow. Getting traction from the issue is correspondingly more difficult.
4. Devote more than a passing interest to economic policy. A party that is not seen to take economic policy seriously is not going to be treated seriously by voters. Voters might have heard of the party's "buy New Zealand-made" campaign or its efforts to raise the minimum wage. Beyond that, well ... Worse, voters have no concept of how such initiatives knit together in a Green economic framework.
5. Make it harder for opponents to tag the Greens as "whacky" or "scary". This requires more professionalism in presentation, more concentration on image, more reaching out to lobbies with which the party has had little interaction. It means ensuring there are no distractions blocking the party's message. This has been Norman's pitch - that he would be a credible public face for the party who could reach beyond the inner cities into suburbia. The implication is that Tanczos, though more media savvy, is an obstacle to people connecting with the party.
6. Revitalise the grassroots membership. The parliamentary wing feels over-worked; the membership feels ignored. Tanczos blames cumbersome decision-making procedures for paralysing "bottom up" initiatives. Norman talks of reviving the "intellectual culture" within the party. Another leadership contender, Dave Clendon, says the party has lost some of its edge. Unlike other minor parties, the Greens have three big things going for them - commitment, consistency and credibility. But they seem to have forgotten how to inspire and excite. Overall, the Greens need to re-energise and prioritise. The hiatus following Donald's death must end - and for one compelling reason. The Greens were squeezed severely at the last election after left-leaning voters felt compelled to back Labour for fear of letting National grab power. It could be even worse next time. Giving the Green brand a facelift does not entirely solve that problem. But it is a start.
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