Green Party (Norway)

Green Party
Miljøpartiet De Grønne
Spokesperson Rasmus Hansson
Une Aina Bastholm
Founded 29 October 1988
Headquarters Oslo
Youth wing Young Greens of Norway
Membership Increase 6,386 (2014)[1]
Ideology Green politics
Political position Centre-left[2][3]
European affiliation European Green Party
International affiliation Global Greens
Colours Green
Storting
1 / 169
County Councils
36 / 728
Municipal Councils
231 / 10,781
Website
www.mdg.no

The Green Party (Bokmål: Miljøpartiet De Grønne, Nynorsk: Miljøpartiet Dei Grøne, Northern Sami: Birasbellodat Ruonát) is a Norwegian political party. The party holds one seat in the Parliament of Norway (gaining 2.8% in the 2013 elections) and also has representation in municipal councils and county councils (gaining 4.2% in the 2015 elections).[4] The Green Party advocates green politics, and has been described as centre-left by academics and voters.[2][3] The party itself claims distance to the two dominant right-wing and left-wing political blocs, jointly denominated as "the fossil block".[5]

The Green Party is a member of the European Green Party and the Global Greens, and was founded with the German Greens as its stated model.[6] It maintains close ties to other Green parties including the German Greens and the Swedish Greens.

History

The process of forming a new national green party in Norway was initiated in December 1984, with the official launch in 1988.[7] Among the pioneers were the late philosopher Arne Næss,[8] peace researcher Johan Galtung,[9] and the philosopher Sigmund Kvaløy Setreng.

In the local elections between 1991 and 2009 the Green Party had 6 - 8 representatives elected each time. In the national elections the party never exceeded 0.5% support.

Since 2005, the Greens have seen a significant membership rise, with the new members coming from a wide variety of other parties, including the seven established parliamentary parties.[10]

In the municipal elections of 2011, the party saw its first local breakthrough, having garnered close to 22,000 votes on a national basis. Two years later, during the campaign for the 2013 general election, the party saw a significant rise in support in the opinion polls. The Greens were widely expected to gain parliamentary representation to some extent.[11] In the election, the Greens gathered over 79,000 votes, making them the 8th biggest party in the country. This vote count translates to 2.8 percent of the vote. Rasmus Hansson, the party's top candidate from Oslo was elected to parliament, becoming the first ever Green MP.[12]

In the local elections of 2015 the Green Party overtook the 4% nationally for the first time in its history and got the third place in Oslo.

Ideology

The Green Party is one of the global ecologist and environmentalist political parties and movements.[13] As a member of the pan-European European Green Party, the Norwegian Greens subscribe to social progressivism and social justice.[14][15] The main focus of the party is environmental protection and ecological sustainability. The party seeks to introduce a tax on wasteful consumption, and to reorganise the food industry. The Greens have also pledged support for a reform in the agrarian industry, increasing the production of organic crops and strengthening the eco-friendly agricultural sector.[16]

The Green party seeks to reduce the Norwegian petroleum extraction in order to counteract serious climate change. The proposal is to stop extraction by 2033.[17]

The party does not have a leader in the traditional sense, rather it is led by the national executive committee which consists of seven persons. Among the board members, two persons (currently Rasmus Hansson and Une Aina Bastholm), act as national spokespersons for the party. All party representatives are elected during the annual party convention.

Election results

The party's member of Parliament, Rasmus Hansson, being interviewed by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation on the 2013 election night
Former national spokeswoman Hanna Marcussen
Storting elections
Date Votes Seats Position Size
# % ± pp # ±
1989 10,136 0.4% + 0.4
0 / 165
 Steady 0 9th
1993 3,054 0.1% - 0.3
0 / 165
 Steady 0 12th
1997 5,884 0.2% + 0.1
0 / 165
 Steady 0 11th
2001 3,785 0.2% + 0.0
0 / 165
 Steady 0 13th
2005 3,652 0.1% - 0.1
0 / 169
 Steady 0 12th
2009 9,286 0.3% + 0.2
0 / 169
 Steady 0 10th
2013 79,152 2.8% + 2.5
1 / 169
 Increase 1 Opposition 8th

See also

References

  1. ↑ Miljøpartiet De Grønne, SNL
  2. 1 2 Jupskås, Anders Ravik (14 September 2011). "En mild grønn vind i norske byer: MDGs lokale gjennombrudd" (in Norwegian). UiO: Institutt for statsvitenskap (ISV): Det samfunnsvitenskapelige fakultet. I mine undersøkelser av partienes landsmøtedelegater (de som vedtar partiets politikk) kommer det frem at partiet i all hovedsak plasserer seg på «venstresiden» i norsk politikk.
  3. 1 2 Arnesen, Sveinung (9 March 2015). "Ligger Miljøpartiet De Grønne i sentrum eller til venstre?". Vox Publica (in Norwegian). Data fra Norsk medborgerpanel viser at velgerne plasserer partiet til venstre for sentrum.
  4. ↑ "Landsoversikt per parti" (in Norwegian).
  5. ↑ Av Miljøpartiet De Grønne (21 May 2013). "Verken rød eller blå, men grønn" (in Norwegian). Miljøpartiet De Grønne. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  6. ↑ "De Grønne banker på - Preik". bt.no. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "Miljøpartiet Dei Grøne" (in Norwegian). Allkunne. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  8. ↑ Schwarz, Walter (15 January 2009). "Obituary: Arne Næss". The Guardian.
  9. ↑ "Nordlys : Johan Galtung mottok æresmedlemskap" (in Norwegian). Nordlyspuls.no. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  10. ↑ "De Grønnes historie - Siste nytt - innenriks, utenriks" (in Norwegian). Tv2.no. 2013-05-24. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  11. ↑ Tom Hetland (2013-08-16). "Blir Dei Grøne årets sensasjon?" (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  12. ↑ MP.http://www.nettavisen.no/politikk/article3675551.ece
  13. ↑ "Om oss" (in Norwegian). Miljøpartiet De Grønne. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  14. ↑ "Velferd og arbeidsliv" (in Norwegian). Miljøpartiet De Grønne. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  15. ↑ "Utvikling og bistand" (in Norwegian). Miljøpartiet De Grønne. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  16. ↑ "Livskvalitet | Miljøpartiet De Grønne". Mdg.no. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  17. ↑ "Fornybar fremtid" (in Norwegian). Miljøpartiet De Grønne. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
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