So, 21.03.2010
20 years of green – from a protest-party to one of formation
1986: Entry into parliament. During the parliamentary elections on the 23rd of November 1986 the “Green Alternative – Freda Meissner-Blau” achieves 4.8% of the votes and so enters the Austrian parliament for the first time with 8 MPs. This result is described that evening as an “advance in democracy: instead oligarchy there is more democracy” by the leading candidate Freda Meissner-Blau. The first Green demand? The creation of a Ministry of the Environment. “One should not get into the situation where nothing is done to protect the environment because of debate discussing who has the required competence. Environmental politics should have the highest priority” is the reason given by Meissner-Blau. Today, a ministry of the environment is taken for granted.
More democracy! Better protection of the environment! With these demands in 1986 society began to talk. This endless exploitation of the environment became an issue; citizens were no longer willing to accept a greedy state. Already in 1978 the environmental movement had won its first battle at the referendum on Zwentendorf. The nuclear power station had not been turned on. In December 1984 a movement of citizens fought against the construction of a dam at Hainburg and again the concrete lobby was dealt a severe blow. These two resistance projects lead to the creation of the Green party.
Oil and nuclear power out! Today, nearly 20 years later, Austria’s anti-nuclear power state is taken for granted and not debated. The reliance on oil, however, remains and a return to this highly dangerous technology (Chernobyl!) is feared. Again, resistance is needed but what is even more important is to offer an alternative. Sweden wants to cut all dependence on oil by 2020. The technology is available. Low energy and so-called “passive” houses need almost no energy. Insulation in old houses reduces energy-loss massively; wind and solar energy should finally be used intensively. Biomass fuel can help to battle the dependence on oil. Eva Glawischnig, the federal speaker for the environment demands a complete change in energy usage and is developing concepts for it. The vision of independence from fossil fuels is what drives the Green Party today.
The fight for the rights of citizens. Behind closed doors in the mid-1970s, the city council of Salzburg decided to build a motorway straight through the city. The actor Herbert Fux and 23,000 other signed a petition to prevent the demolition of historical buildings and the rule of the construction industry. The petition works: the project is put aside. In 1977 the “Salzburgian citizens list” enters the city council, five years later it achieves 17.7 percent of the Salzburg votes and Johannes Voggenhuber becomes the first Green member of a governing body in Europe. Even today all Green MPs pay into a fund to finance initiatives by citizens to fight against the destruction of nature or pollution, for example. It was not a coincidence that Voggenhuber demanded the possibility of a Europe-wide referendum in the EU constitution. The fight for the rights of citizens is very close the hearts of the Green.
The fight against the Filz. In the local elections of 1991 posters are put up in Vienna showing a man spying around a corner, with "Pilz gegen Filz" written on it (Pilz being the name of the Vienna candidate. Filz is a type of unofficial, dubious network in politics). The fight against bad leadership, wasting of money, the uncovering of scandals like Noricum or Lucona, the criticism of certain appointments in government and so on have been the focus of most of the Greens’ attention since the start in 1986. Today the Green party is assigned the running of the National Audit Office.
The women’s party. At the beginning of February 2006 Eva Glawischnig presented a statistic. During speeches in parliament which are presented live on ORF, the percentage of speaking time used by women is only of 23% for the ÖVP, a weak 25% for the SPÖ and BZÖ /FPÖ have 27%. “As soon as the spotlight is on, women are pushed off the stage” criticises Glawischnig, using this as a symbol for the inequality that still remains in Austria between man and woman. The Green party is the exception: of the 17 MPs nine are women (53%) and their speaking time is a proud 58%! Part of the reason for this is the quota system, which guarantees that at least 50% of the MPs are women.
Representing minorities in parliament. After the opening ceremony by Frank Vranitsky of the government in 1987 the wheelchair-bound Green MP Manfred Srb had to be carried down to the pulpit. Handicapped people in parliament hadn’t really been a major feature of parliament so far and therefore he hadn’t been catered for. Today the Green MP Theresia Heydlmayr uses a ramp to get to the pulpit. On the 5th of November 1990 Marijana Grandits and Therezija Stoisitz caused irritation during a parliamentary session. They replaced the Austrian expression for “I solemnly swear” with the Croatian equivalent “zargovam se”. For the first time representatives of the Croatian minority were in the “high house” - and they were loud. This symbolic gesture was a way to show the fight for the rights of minorities, which the Green party still carries on today; for example on the issue of bilingual place-names in Kaernten. Standing up against xenophobia, for fair asylum processes and the integration of foreigners is also part of Green politics as well as equal rights for the men and women who are homosexuals.
Criticism of Austria’s handling of its Nazi history. The Green party has also repeatedly brought up the theme of Austria’s Nazi past. Surely the most spectacular way of doing this was Andreas Wabl’s (who was the party leader between 1988 and 1990), in the debate about President Waldheim’s role in World War Two. On the 14th of May 1987 Wabl said “our President, who when asked what he had done in the war didn’t know more than to say that he had done his duty. And so that you know under which flag he did his duty…” At this point, the report says “the speaker unrolls a flag with the Swastika motif on it – cries of outrage”. The Green party has also often introduced the theme of reparations that ought to be made for what happened under the Nazi regime – most recently for example, the return of stolen art.
The basic Green principles. As well as the movements for the environment and women, the movement for peace was also one of the founding members when the Green party was formed. The fear of nuclear war had moved people, pushed them to act in some way. Until 2001 the basic principles were therefore “peaceful, ecological democratic and for solidarity”. In 2001 these were expanded and since then they are: “ecological, independent, democratic, peaceful, feministic and for solidarity”. The continuing basis for Green security policy is the removal of all fighter aircraft, from the old Draken to the modern Eurofighter.
Basic support – for a life without poverty. Engaged Christians and dissident trade unionists were also involved in the formation of the Green party and helped to clarify the party’s ideals: thanks to the Catholic social academy, the answer was found to the problems that remain even today related to unequal sharing of wealth: basic support – the recognition of the individual and that person’s right to exist. Basic support is a right for the individual not only not to have to live in poverty, but is supposed to provide access to education, health and sport facilities, mobility, free time in one’s working life and many other things. Today the idea of basic support is one of the key items of Green social politics.
From Freda Meissner-Blau to Alexander Van der Bellen. The fact that the Green party was formed by combining so many splintered groups did lead to a lot of infighting. After two years as the leader of the party Meissner-Blau resigned in 1988. Andreas Wabl took over, followed in 1990 by Johannes Voggenhuber, and then in 1992 by Madeleine Petrovic. Petrovic still holds the record for the longest speech ever in the Austrian parliament: She spoke overnight from the 11th to the 12th of March 1993 for a total of ten hours and thirty five minutes about the proposed removal of a rule which meant that wood imported from rainforests had to be marked. Under Petrovic the Green party for the first time really broke the 5% mark with 7.3% of the votes in 1994. One of the new MPs for the Green party was a certain Alexander Van der Bellen, a professor in economics. During elections that were brought forward in 1995 the Green party then fell to 4.8%. Christoph Chorherr followed Petrovic and resigned in 1997. He was immediately followed by the aforementioned professor of economics.
The ecological and social tax reform. With Alexander Van der Bellen a new calm came over the Green party’s internal politics. There is one massively important point that carries his name: the concept of an ecological and social tax reform. The use of fossil fuels and other energy sources that harm the environment would be made more expensive, whilst people themselves would get a tax break and privately-owned houses a tax return to cover the rising cost of energy. The ecological and social tax reform is therefore a very important step in making a move towards cleaner fuels at an affordable price. It will create new jobs and help preserve the environment.
The parliament is getting greener. During the parliamentary elections of 1999 leading candidate Alexander Van der Bellen got 7.4% of the votes, getting 14 places for MPs. In the 2002 elections (brought forward) 9.47% of the votes, getting very close to the target-number of 10%. In June 2004 this figure was resoundingly beaten with 12.89% of the votes. In the 9 years under Van der Bellen, the Green party has now achieved a place in every state of Austria and is a member of the ruling coalition for the second time now in Upper-Austria. Before, the Greens from the Tyrol had been a member of the ruling coalition under Eva Lichtenberger from 1994 until 1999. Rudi Anschober with Petrovic in Lower-Austria, Peter Pilz in Vienna and Eva Glawischnig in Kaernten – these people all helped to strengthen the Green party in an amazing way.
From a resistance party to one of formation. Alexander Van der Bellen has made it clear that the Green party doesn’t want to become a constant member of the opposition at all costs. The Green party is willing to take the responsibility to enter a ruling coalition if it is thought that Green ideas can be brought through more effectively than in the opposition. That the Green party tried to talk to the ÖVP after the elections of 2002 shows this will, but the Green party broke off negotiations because the ÖVP did not want to compromise on anything, instead concentrating on its own “black and blue” agenda.
In the 20 years since its formation the Green party has evolved from being a resistance party to one that is willing to take responsibility for being in government. They also showed in the negotiations with the ÖVP that they don’t want to govern for fun, but to achieve something for the environment, to fight poverty, to improve improve education and to increase the role of women. If this isn’t possible, like with the ÖVP at the time, then it refuses to let itself get dragged into the government.
