by Mike Feinstein, advisor, International Committee of the Green Party of the United States Just two weeks after the German Green Partyís Zukunfts-Kongress, Berlin, the capital of Germany, held elections for both city and state parliament. Painting itself as ìconstructive, creative and critical,î the Greens were the biggest winners in the election. The party went from 9.1% to 13.4% and from 14 to 24 seats, led by top-of-the-ticket candidate Franziska Eichstaedt Bohlig. While the majority of the Greens gains came…

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by Mike Feinstein, member, International Committee of the Green Party of the United States The Green Party is well known for advocating sustainability and ìthinking seven generations ahead.î Thatís exactly what happened on a grand scale this September in Berlin, at the Gru?ne Zukunfts-Kongress (Green Futures Congress). ìIt was a theory Woodstock with practical results,î said German Green Party co-chair Claudia Roth at the conclusion of the weekendís proceedings. More than 2,000 Greens and non-party members filled the Berlin Energy…

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by Mike Feinstein, member, International Committee of the Green Party of the United States Between 1998 and 2005, German Greens were well-known for participating in a national coalition government with the Social Democratic Party, called ìRed-Greenî after each partyís official colors. But with the decline of the Social Democrats across Germany, the opportunity for the Greens to explore coalitions with other parties has grown. There is now aìBlack-Greenî government in Frankfurt, where Greens received 15.3% in March local elections. As…

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by Mike Feinstein, advisor, International Committee of the Green Party of the United States The United States isn’t the only North American country with a winner-take-all voting system that makes it particularly difficult for Greens to win elections. Canadians face a similar system, and have also been barred from televised debates. (Sound familiar?) Despite these hurdles, on January 23 the Green Party of Canada (GPC) had its best election result ever at the federal level, receiving 665,940 votes (4.5%). Up…

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by Mike Feinstein, Advisor to International Committee, Green Party of the United States She had only been elected for a matter of minutes, but Elizabeth May quickly showed sheíd be a force to be reckoned with as the Green Party of Canadaís (GPC) new leader. Drawing wild cheers from convention attendees during her acceptance speech, May called upon the Canadian government to give the United States a formal six months notice to end the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)….

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by Jim Harris, Former Leader (2002-2006), Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canadaís (GPC) 2006 convention in Ottawa this August was a coming of age for the party. Members elected Elizabeth May as the partyís new Leader in a race that electrified the party. Party membership went from 5,300 members after the January 2006 election to 10,000 by August. The convention was the largest in party history, with 400 party members and 50 volunteers, as well as, more…

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by Camille Labchuk, Federal Councillor and former Press Secretary, Green Party of Canada Green Party leader Elizabeth May’s announcement that she will run in the British Columbia (B.C.) riding (district) of SaanichóGulf Islands in the next election has sparked a renewed sense of optimism and enthusiasm among Greens in Canada, raising hopes and expectations that the party will win its first seat in the House of Commons. May had previously run for a seat in her home province of Nova…

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by Phil Hill, B¸ndnis ë90/Die Gr¸nen It was the best result the Greens had ever had in a German national election ñ 10.7 percent ñ but nobody at the September 27th election-eve party was cheering as the first exit poll results were announced, for they came after the results of all the other four major parties, and there had been plenty of bad news there. First, Chancellor Angela Merkelís conservatives (CDU), though weakened, was clearly headed for victory, but this…

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