Green Party (Lilienburg)
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Green Party | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Hermann Thaler |
| Founded | November 20, 1981 |
| Headquarters | 83 Jan-Goldschmidt-Strasse Neustadt Lilienburg |
| Ideology | Green politics Progressivism Participatory democracy Left-wing populism Pro-Erdaranism |
| Political position | Centre-left to left-wing |
| International affiliation | Global Greens |
| Volkshaus | 18 / 72
|
The Green Party of Lilienburg (Hesurian: Grüne Partei Lilienburgs), is a centre-left to left-wing party in the Free City of Lilienburg. Founded in 1981 as a student movement focusing on anti-nuclear, anti-war and social justice issues, the party is the largest party in the city-state as of the 2019 election, holding 18 out of 72 seats in the Volkshaus and governing in coalition with the Social Labour Rally, with party chairman Hermann Thaler serving as the Chancellor of Lilienburg.
History
Ideology
In its official Party Charter, the Green Party of Lilienburg describes itself as being a progressive party with an ideology based on the four fundamental principles of green politics: environmentalism, social justice, participatory democracy and non-violence, and considers its policy proposals on economic, social, foreign, environmental and constitutional issues to be based on these principles.
Classifications
In academic works, the party's official descriptions of its ideology as green and progressive are generally considered to be accurate: many have also, however, described the party as being a left-wing populist party, citing party campaign material decrying a "socially conservative elite" within politics and society in general and bringing a focus on issues affecting ordinary people such as cost of living. The party has been also been critical of some aspects of what is considered Lilienburg's establishment: while the party has many times reiterated its support for a strong trade union movement and collective bargaining, it has decried many major trade unions for what it perceives to be a lack of internal democracy and being top-down in nature.
A few outside observers have disputed all of these classifications, and labelled the party's key ideology as being social liberalism: Mascyllary political scholar Robert Schulz has said the party "is bound together solely on liberal views towards social issues", and that it "lacks any real economic foundation", with the party's documents focusing only on "vague, critical support for the Lilienburg model".
Policy proposals
The party is known for its staunch anti-nuclear stances, being partially founded by anti-nuclear activists concerned about the prospects of nuclear technology on the environment. This stance entails a strong opposition to the building of new nuclear power plants, with the party wanting Lilienburg to be a nuclear-free zone and actively supporting the Mascyllary Polyneikes program. It also supports multilateral disarmament, advocating for all countries that currently possess nuclear weapons to voluntarily give them up, citing both the environmental issues of using them and its support for non-violence.
In replacement of nuclear power, the party has advocated for an increase in renewable energy: the party has said that while the use of fossil fuels in the short term is acceptable, the increased pollution associated with using them and their limited capacity will hamper their use in the long term. Therefore, the party has advocated for the increased building of windmills and solar panels, advocating for the building of offshore wind farms in Lake Sigismund, the re-purposing of unused rural land as wind farms and solar power stations and subsidies to households that install solar panels on the roof.
The party also champions pacifism in foreign affairs and supports the anti-war movement: notably, while in opposition, the party opposed Lilienburger involvement in the Grobina Wars between Hytekia and Juznia and proposed international mediation on the conflicts at hand, advocating for the Euclean Community to mediate the conflict in both cases, yet these proposals failed to gain traction. The party has, however, continued to advocate for these principles in foreign affairs, notably calling for international mediation of the Pukene Civil War and supporting the Assembly of Nations in humanitarian missions across the world in conflict zones.
The party has also championed many movements against social inequality as part of its commitment to social justice, and has been described as the most pro-feminist party in Lilienburg. For example, the party declared the elimination of the gender pay gap as a major target in its 2015 manifesto, and has also advocated for schemes to end gender imbalance in subjects such as STEM at the University of Lilienburg. It has also advocated for abortion rights, being a major supporter of the successful "Yes" campaign in the 1998 referendum to legalise abortion, for the supplying of free contraception by the state and for reforms to the welfare state to support single mothers as much as traditional nuclear families.
Other social movements that the party has offered its support to include the anti-discrimination movement, having a major advocate for strengthening anti-discrimination protections so that companies may not discriminate against individuals in employment and provision of goods and services with regards to race, immigration status, marital status, sexual orientation and supporting extending them to include gender identity. It is also a major supporter of gay rights in general, with party leader Reinhard Schmidt leading the "Yes" campaign in the 2007 referendum to legalise same-sex marriage alongside colleagues from Civic Unity and the Social Labour Rally and the party successfully electing the first openly gay member of the Volkshaus, Marten Greifswald, in the 1999 election. It has also advocated civil libertarian causes, having supported the decriminalisation of drug use and the legalisation of marijuana, and opposing the use of digital and mass surveillance, the extension of detention without trial and identity card schemes.
The party is also officially pro-immigration, supporting open borders and easing Lilienburg's strict citizenship requirements, yet this stance has been questioned by many in the party who have cited issues integrating large amounts of immigrants into society and have thus rebelled on the party's open borders stance and advocated for assimilationist policies. Furthermore, while the party's official stance is in support of the rights of sex workers and transgender individuals, legalising prostitution and reforming the gender recognition process, some members of the party such as Kirsche Rosenfeld, a member of the Volkshaus for Steinburg North, have criticised the party's stance on this, saying that it conflicts with its self-professed feminism, yet many senior members of the party such as Chancellor Hermann Thaler, have been strongly critical of Rosenfeld on this issue.
The party has also supported constitutional reform in order to bring about greater direct democracy, supporting an increase in the use of referenda at the national level, reforms to the election of the Landshaus to defer power in electing the trade union representatives to ordinary members of the trade unions, for recall of representatives to the Volkshaus and for tying the salary of members of the Stadtshaus to the national median wage. However, the party has gained most support for its proposals as to reform of local government, wishing to introduce participatory democracy in the boroughs, opening participation in local government to residents of each borough through crowdsourcing ordnance proposals and local budgets, allowing for residents to petition for repeal of unpopular ordnances and introducing recall to local councils.
Economically, the party is largely supportive of the current setup of the Lilienburger economy, supporting the heavy role of the trade union movement in the economy and supporting co-operative businesses. However, the party has also endorsed loosening of business regulation, supporting reforming company registration laws to make it easier to set up companies and making it easier to both hire and fire new employees, yet these proposals have been criticised by some in the party. However, the party's main economic proposal is the introduction of universal basic services by introducing a nationalised broadband company providing free internet access to all residents of Lilienburg and strengthening the social housing, universal healthcare and free tertiary education offered to residents of the city, as well as making public transport free. The party also supports greater funding for the arts in Lilienburg, wishing to subsidise the city's vibrant popular culture scene to give it international prominence.