Green Party of the Oan Isles
Green Party of the Oan Isles Te Paati Kakariki o Nga Motuere Oa | |
|---|---|
| File:Green Party.png | |
| Abbreviation | Oan: PK (Staynish: GP) |
| Chairperson | Arana Marama |
| Standing Committee | National Convention Planning Committee |
| Founded | 12 March 1960 |
| Registered | 28 November 1960 |
| Preceded by | Green Alliance |
| Headquarters | None |
| Newspaper | Green News |
| Student wing | None |
| Youth wing | None |
| Women's wing | Green Party Women's League |
| LGBT+ wing | Green Party Rainbow League |
| Kohatu wing | Green Party Kohatu League |
| Ideology | Environmentalist Socialist Democracy |
| Anthem | He kakariki o matou toto Our blood is green |
| Council of the People | 48 |
| Auroran Parliament | 7 |
| Website | |
| green.org.oan | |
The Green Party of the Oan Isles (Oan: Te Paati Kakariki o Nga Motuere Oa) is the largest political party in the Oan Isles by total volunteers. It was founded in the 1960s following student and youth protests against smog caused by industrial activity. It ascribes to environmentalist socialist democratic ideology. The highest recognised offficial is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arana Marama.
History
The Green Party was established in the 1960s, when industrialisation led to increased pollution and destruction of the Oan Isles' natural habitat. Thus, young people and university students protested against the smog especially in major cities such as Tauranga a te Toka and called on the national government to act. The movement galvanized around a charismatic leader and they registered the Green Alliance as a non-profit. The Green Alliance supported its membersin seeking political office and was thus required by the Election Law to register as a political party. It did this, and became the Green Party. The Green Party faced major birthing pains due to the various conflicting interests and the radical nature of its members. Through time the organization began faltering, to the dismay of its senior leadership. They eventually forced the head of the party to resign and they Reformed the organization to be highly decentralized. Over time, other political parties dissolved and the Green Party rose to prominence and became the largest political party in the country.
Ideology
The Green Party ascribes to environmentalist social democratic ideals. It describes it a primary goals as advancing the protection and preservation of natural habitats, the responsible and sustainable use of natural resources, and the use of nature to improve the quality of life of the people of the Oan Isles. To achieve these goals, it uses Socialist democratic political thinking. For instance, it believes that the government should and must intervene in the free market to protect nature and ensure sustainability of natural resources through regulation and control of strategic economic sectors. It believes that the free market it inherently willing to threaten the natural environment and must thus be carefully watched to stop it. Thus, the Green Party has an uneasy relationship with large companies especially the Oan Petroleum Corporation (OAN OIL) as it believes the exploitation of fossil fuels in inherently evil.
Policies
The Green Party pushes for the following policies:
- Using multilateral geopolitical agreements and organizations to encourage a foreign nations to preserve nature.
- Charging corporations are carbon tax to reduce carbon emissions and simultaneously rewarding corporations which meet state-set targets.
- Preventing large scale logging of forests, restricting mining, setting quotas on fishing, permanently banning the trade of rare and exotic animals and heavily regulating mineral extraction in Oan territory.
- Investing public funds and creating economic opportunities for the renewable energy industry, electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles and other related sectors.
- Greenification of cities, enacting strict laws on littering and waste disposal, encouraging the use of public transport,
- Changing urban planning and work culture to put more services closer to people so they do not have to travel far to work, live or play, thus supporting densification policies in cities.
Organisation
The Green Party consists of Branches at local and community level. The branches make most decisions by a vote of all members and they appoint different members to head initiatives and programs and represent their interests at higher levels. They form the foundation of the party as they carry out initiatives, campaign for elections, and provide for the well-being of their members. There is no formal membership process as people come and go as they choose. The branches have a lot of autonomy especially compared to other parties and they are not always obligated to abide by decisions made by higher structures. Branches are grouped into clusters at a local government level, then into sectors at island-level. These structures exist entirely for coordination and support. There is no national authority in charge of the party per-se.
The annual Green Party National Convention brings together delegates from registered branches to vote on key issues. The Green Party National Convention Planning Committee (which is elected at the previous convention) organizes the administers the convention. This requires liaising with different bodies and external stakeholders, coordinating election campaigns, supporting and cultivating political talent, collating proposals from members and branches to develop policies for the Convention to adopt. Otherwise, there is no national authority over the party. The Chairperson of the GPNC Planing Committee is Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arana Marama. Members of the National Assembly who are part of the Green Party form the Green Party National Assembly Caucus and the Coordinator for that structure is Edgar Iparoha. The caucus is a deliberative forum for members of the NA with no power to force members to do anything.
Funding
The funding of political parties in the Oan Isles is controlled by the Political Party Funding Law. This law is administered by the independent Oan Elections Commission. This law controls the way in which political parties raise their income. The Green Party functions like a franchise in that the branches have internal control but ascribe to the broader principles of the organization. Thus, branches raise their own donations, have their own investments, and other sources of income that are independent of the other structures of the organization.
They contribute a percentage amount of their income so that the GPNC Planning Commission can organize the GPNC. Otherwise they are free to raise capital as they please. The decentralized nature of the funding model of the GP has prevented national structures from gaining control of lower parts of the organization. This is why the GP is dominated by young people because they are attracted to the degree of freedom they have and some branches consist only of young people. It is estimated that the total income raised by the Green Party is around 75 to 100 million kiribs. This money mostly goes to community initiatives, electoral campaigns and the GPNC.
Notable individuals
- Arana Marama, Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Edgar Iparoha, Coordinator of the GP National Assembly Caucus
- Blackfist Iparoha, Pan-Polynesian activist and member of the National Assembly
- Tipene Rahua, Director of the Oan Intelligence Bureau
Auroran Parliament
Within the Auroran Parliament, the Green Party has 7 seats as part of the Auroran Green Party. The Green Party has the highest number of seats of any Oan party in the Auroran Parliament.