22.10.2007
Greens make progress in elections in Switzerland,
Slovenia and Poland
The Spokespersons of the European Green Party today
reacted positively to election results in Switzerland,
Poland and Slovenia, all of which saw Greens
make progress, although in very different contexts.
EGP Co-Spokesperson Ulrike
Lunacek said: “I would
like to congratulate Greens in Switzerland,
Slovenia and Poland for
their considerable achievements in the elections held on 21st
October. In Switzerland, the EGP ‘s member party, the Green Party (Les Verts / Die Grüne) achieved
a fantastic result in parliamentary elections : winning 20 seats in the House
of Representatives , which is an increase of 7 seats and represents an
impressive 9.6 % of the vote. Although the results from the elections to the
Senate are incomplete, it is known that the Greens have won their first ever
seat in the Senate. This is an excellent result, particularly when one
considers that the Swiss election campaign was dominated by xenophobia and
racism. The Swiss Greens are to be congratulated on running a campaign which
emphasised the importance of tolerance and helping foreigners integrate into
Swiss society. It is worth pointing out that among Swiss voters living abroad,
the highest score achieved was that of Raphaël Thiemard, who obtained
2251 votes in the canton of Fribourg. Raphaël Thiemard lives in Belgium and is
a member of Ecolo. This type of Pan-European candidacy is something that Greens
are keen to build on in the future. In Slovenia, Darko Krajnc, of the EGP’s member party
SMS, won 3.8% of the
vote in the first round of the presidential elections. This is a considerable achievement
as it is much more than most commentators expected and represents a real
breakthrough for SMS which we hope will mean that SMS will again be able to be
represented in parliament after next year’s parliamentary elections.”
EGP Co-Spokesperson Philippe
Lamberts continued: “In Poland, the Greens(Zieloni 2004) were
disadvantaged in the general election because of an unfair electoral system
which requires candidates to garner a huge number of signatures before they can
even stand for election. However, in the Silesia
region, the Greens’ candidate in the Senatorial election, Monika Paca, managed to
obtain approximately 5% of the vote (around 21,000 votes). This is a very
positive result and Monika was able to increase her support as the campaign
went on. One feature of the Polish elections which is worth pointing out is the
high turnout of around 54 %, which is the highest turnout since 1989 and bodes
well for Polish democracy. We very much hope that the new government of the
Civic Platform Party reverses some of the regressive legislation of the
previous administration and ensures that Poland plays a more constructive
role in the EU than has recently been the case. It is also vitally important
that the new government makes the recognition of civil liberties and an
open-minded society a key priority in their programme for government, thus
reversing the repressive tendencies of the Kaczynski government. ”
Graham Burgess
Communications Officer
European Green Party
Tel no :+32 2 626 0724
Mobile:+32 477 902
023
email:graham.burgess@europeangreens.org
www.europeangreens.org