The Greens (''––'') are a
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...
and
regionalist political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
(with
eco-socialist
Eco-socialism (also known as green socialism or socialist ecology) is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. Eco-socialists generally believe that the expansi ...
and self-proclaimed
social-democratic
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
tendencies) active in
South Tyrol
it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol
, settlement_type = Autonomous province
, image_skyline =
, image_alt ...
, northern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. Once the provincial section of the
Federation of the Greens
The Federation of the Greens ( it, Federazione dei Verdi, FdV), frequently referred to as Greens (''Verdi''), was a green political party in Italy. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the Federation of Green Lists and the Rainbow Greens.
Th ...
, the party is now autonomous and often forms different alliances at the country-level (most recently with
Left Ecology Freedom
Left Ecology Freedom ( it, Sinistra Ecologia Libertà, SEL) was a democratic socialist political party in Italy whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party.
The party's leader was Nichi Vendola, a former President ...
,
Italian Left
Italian Left ( it, Sinistra Italiana, SI) is a left-wing political party in Italy. SI was launched in November 2015 as a parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies (full name: Italian Left – Left Ecology Freedom), including Left Ecology F ...
and
Free and Equal, while the Italian Greens have sided with
Civil Revolution
Civil Revolution ( it, Rivoluzione Civile, RC) was a left-wing coalition of political parties in Italy.
The coalition was headed by Antonio Ingroia, a former anti- mafia prosecutor of Palermo from 1992 to 2012 and then director of a UN inve ...
and the
Democratic Party), but both joined
Green Europe, a coalition of green parties for the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peop ...
.
The Greens are inter-ethnic and strive to improve relations between the three language groups of the Province:
Italian-,
German- and
Ladin-speakers. Since 2019 the party's spokespersons have been
Felix Wohlgemuth and
Marlene Pernstich.
History
The Greens have their roots in the
New Left
The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights ...
and the
environmental movement
The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...
s of the 1970s. They started to compete in elections in 1978, but were formally registered as a party only in 1996. From 1978 to 1996 they used different names:
New Left
The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights ...
(
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government).
* January 6 ...
), Alternative List (
1983), Green Alternative List (
1988) and finally Greens (since
1993).
Alexander Langer
Alexander Langer (22 February 1946 – 3 July 1995) was an Italian journalist, peace activist, politician, translator, and teacher.
Biography
Born on 22 February 1946 in Sterzing, South Tyrol, a province of Italy inhabited by a German-speaking ...
, founder and early leader of the party, committed suicide in 1995.
Other than in the
Landtag of South Tyrol
The Council of South Tyrol is the provincial council (german: Südtiroler Landtag; it, Consiglio della Provincia autonoma di Bolzano; lld, Cunsëi dla Provinzia autonoma de Bulsan) of the autonomous province of South Tyrol (Bolzano) in northe ...
since 1978, the party was successively represented in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
by long-time activist Langer (1989–1995), mountaineer
Reinhold Messner (1999–2004) and theologian
Sepp Kusstatscher (2004–2009).
In the
2003 provincial election the party obtained 7.9% of the vote and three provincial councillors:
Cristina Kury, Kusstatscher (a former member of the
South Tyrolean People's Party, SVP) and
Hans Heiss. In the
2004 European Parliament election, the Greens won 13.1% of the vote in the Province, their best result ever, and sent Kusstatscher to the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
, replacing Messner.
In the
2008 provincial election the Greens won only the 5.8% of the vote, losing votes (-2.1%) and one seat from 2003. The two elected Green councillors were Heiss and
Riccardo Dello Sbarba, who succeeded to Kusstatscher.
In the
2013 general election the Greens did not follow the national party into the
Civil Revolution
Civil Revolution ( it, Rivoluzione Civile, RC) was a left-wing coalition of political parties in Italy.
The coalition was headed by Antonio Ingroia, a former anti- mafia prosecutor of Palermo from 1992 to 2012 and then director of a UN inve ...
alliance and decided instead to support
Left Ecology Freedom
Left Ecology Freedom ( it, Sinistra Ecologia Libertà, SEL) was a democratic socialist political party in Italy whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party.
The party's leader was Nichi Vendola, a former President ...
(SEL), whose regional slate included Green
Florian Kronbichler, who was the first German-speaker to be elected not for the SVP.
In the
2013 provincial election the Greens won 8.7% of the vote (+2.9%), their record high in a provincial election, and sent three elects to the Provincial Council: Heiss, Dello Sbarba and
Brigitte Foppa. In the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
the Greens supported
The Other Europe
The Other Europe ( it, L'Altra Europa), whose full name was The Other Europe with Tsipras (''L'Altra Europa con Tsipras'', AET), was a left-wing political organisation in Italy. It took part in the 2014 European Parliament election in support of ...
, an electoral alliance launched by
Italian Left
Italian Left ( it, Sinistra Italiana, SI) is a left-wing political party in Italy. SI was launched in November 2015 as a parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies (full name: Italian Left – Left Ecology Freedom), including Left Ecology F ...
(SI, successor of SEL) and other left-wing parties, but its candidate
Oktavia Brugger was not elected. In the 2015 municipal election in
Merano
Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and '' comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeie ...
, the second-largest South Tyrolean city, Green
Paul Rösch was elected mayor with 60.7% of the vote in the run-off: it was the first time that the Greens were to win a large municipality.
In the
2018 general election Kronbichler did not stand again and the Greens continued to join forces with SI within the
Free and Equal electoral list, with
Norbert Lantschner as its standard-bearer. Lantschner was not elected and the Greens lost their representation in Parliament.
In the
2018 provincial election the Greens won 6.8% of the vote (-1.9pp) and again sent three elected to the Provincial Council. In the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peop ...
the Greens joined the
Green Europe (EV) electoral list, with
Norbert Lantschner as their candidate, and obtained 8.7% of the vote. In November 2019 the party became a full member of the
European Green Party
The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free ...
.
In July 2022, at a convention in Rome, spokesperson
Marlene Pernstich participated in the launch event of
New Energies, a joint list for the
next Italian general election
The next Italian general election will occur no later than 22 December 2027, although it may be called earlier as a snap election.
Background
Electoral system
The electoral law currently in force in Italy assignes seats in both houses ...
formed by EV and SI.
Popular support
The Greens' best result in a provincial election was in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
, when the party won 8.7% of the vote. In that occasion, the Greens obtained their highest shares in five small municipalities:
Urtijëi (13.9%),
Bronzolo (13.7%),
Montan (12.8%),
Auer (12.4%) and
Glurns (11.7%). Despite this, the party was usually stronger in cities than in rural areas: it did well in the three largest cities (11.4% in
Bolzano
Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third ...
, 10.6% in
Merano
Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and '' comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeie ...
and 11.0% in
Brixen
Brixen (, ; it, Bressanone ; lld, Porsenù or ) is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano.
Geography
First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and the artistic an ...
), while it did worse in the four most rural
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
–
Vinschgau (7.3%, despite Glurns),
Salten-Schlern (7.2%, despite Urtijëi),
Pustertal (6.9%, despite 11.6% in
Bruneck) and
Wipptal (6.5%) – and in
Ladin
Ladin may refer to:
*Ladin language, a language in northern Italy, often classified as a Rhaeto-Romance language
*Ladin people, the inhabitants of the Dolomite Alps region of northern Italy
See also
*Laden (disambiguation)
*Ladino (disambiguati ...
municipalities (5.9%, despite Urtijëi). Previous and subsequent elections showed similar patterns of the vote.
The electoral results of the Greens in South Tyrol since 1992 are shown in the table below.
Provincial Council
Leadership
Spokesperson:
Carlo Bertorelle (1996–1998),
Leander Moroder (1998–2006),
Franco Bernard (2006–2009),
Sepp Kusstatscher and
Brigitte Foppa (2009–2013),
Giorgio Zanvettor and
Brigitte Foppa (2014–2016),
Hans Heiss and
Brigitte Foppa (2016–2017),
Tobias Planer and
Brigitte Foppa (2017–2019),
Felix Wohlgemuth and
Marlene Pernstich (2019–present)
References
Sources
Provincial Council of Bolzano – Historical ArchiveTrentino Alto-Adige Region – ElectionsCattaneo Institute – Archive of Election DataMinistry of the Interior – Historical Archive of ElectionsGünther Pallaver, ''Political parties in Alto Adige from 1945 to 2005''*Hermann Atz, ''Die Grünen Südtirols. Profil und Wählerbasis'', StudienVerlag,
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...
/
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
/
Bolzano
Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third ...
2007, .
*Joachim Gatterer, ''"rote milben im gefieder". Sozialdemokratische, kommunistische und grün-alternative Parteipolitik in Südtirol'', StudienVerlag, Innsbruck/Vienna/Bolzano 2009,
External links
Official website
{{European Green Party
1996 establishments in Italy
Green political parties in Italy
Left-wing politics in Italy
Political parties established in 1996
Political parties in South Tyrol
Social democratic parties in Italy
Federation of the Greens