{news} Iceland Left-Greens say govt announcement due Sat (Reuters)

Sat Jan 31 10:55:24 EST 2009

----- Original Message -----

From: "Mike Feinstein"
To: "The natlcomaffairs (aka USGP-DX) listserv is used to discuss issues
related to coordinated national actions and current issues."
Subject: Re: [usgp-dx] Iceland Left-Greens say govt announcement due Sat
(Reuters)
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:31:05 -0800

http://www.vg.is/tungumal/english/

The Left-Green Movement

(Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð)

The party was founded on February 6th 1999 after a few months work,
aiming to unite socialist and conservationist groups for the elections
held on May 8th.

The prelude was a structural reorganisation on the left wing of
Icelandic politics. On the one hand there were those who prepared the
unification of three existing parties, The Social democrats
(Alþýðuflokkur), The People's Alliance (Alþýðubandalagið) and The
Women's Party (Samtök um kvennalista) in one social-democratic party. On
the other side there were those who fought for the unification of
social-, environmental and feminist politics into one party. These were
to be found in the above mentioned parties, especially in the Peoples
Alliance and the Women's Party and in an open leftwing forum newly
founded, Stefna - a forum for left politics.

This movement joined forces with four MP's from The People's Alliance
and The Women's Party who had the same views and had for some months
formed an independent group within the parliament. In due time a new
political party The Left-Green Movement was founded as a choice to the
left of The Alliance (Samfylkingin).

The cornerstones of it´s policy are the following:

Conservation of the environment

All natural resources shall be public property and utilized without
reducing them and in a careful manner. So-called green economics must be
used to estimate the value of untouched nature and green taxes shall be
applied to encourage protection of the environment. From our point of
view, it is of great importance that Icelanders can produce all the
energy they need in the future. We reject further building of power
plants for the use of polluting large scale industry and demand
conservation of the highland. We emphasize powerful, international
co-operation and conventions concerning environmental matters.
Equality and social justice

All individuals shall have equal rights and no discrimination can be
tolerated. We demand full equality concerning education, all social
service, public information and freedom of speech. It is the duty of
the Icelandic state to guarantee the welfare of every citizen,
especially the elderly and the disabled.

The Left-Green Movement supports the strenghtening of the rural areas of
Iceland by means of good social service, education, prosperous culture
and various economy. Privatization in public areas is of great danger
in these matters, since it usually leads to a more expensive service in
rural areas.

It is a project of high priority to guarantee that wages paid for 40
hours' work a week will be sufficient for a normal cost of living.
Fair and prosperous economy

The Left-Green Movement is willing to strengthen the position of wage
earners to influence the development of our society. The party is
willing to support the development of Icelandic economy to a state of
more diversity and encourage the use of environment-friendly technology.
It is necessary to prevent monopoly and centralization of capital,
enable the conventional industries of Iceland to develop themselves and
make use of Iceland's special status to create jobs of all kinds for all
the inhabitants.

Independent foreign policy

The Left-Green Movement fights for an independent, Icelandic foreign
policy that maintains the sovereignty of Iceland and supports all means
of establishing global peace. The party opposes participation in
military organizations such as NATO and WEU. It also rejects
participation in the European Union and emphasizes simple, bilateral
treaties concerning trade and co-operation.

The Left-Green Movement is willing to strenghten the co-operation of all
nations based on mutual respect for different opinons and different
culture. The party supports and wants to strenghten the participation
in democratical organizations such as the United Nations, the European
Council and the Nordic Council. Iceland shall support the goals of the
UN and the Declaration of Human Rights by making a contribution to the
abolition of poverty and hunger, social injustice, unequal division of
wealth, racial discrimination, violation of human rights and militarism.

Members of the Left-Green Movement are approximately 3000 by now. The
chairman is Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, MP, and vice-chairman is Katrín
Jakobsdóttir MP. The secretary-general of the party is Drífa Snædal.
The party got 14,3% of votes cast in the elections of May 12th 2007 and
has by now 9 representatives in the parliament. They are:Atli Gíslason,
Álfheiður Ingadóttir, Árni Þór Sigurðsson, Jón Bjarnason, Katrín
Jakobsdóttir, Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir, Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, Þuríður
Backman and Ögmundur Jónasson.

Address:
The Left-Green Movement
Suðurgötu 3
Box 175
121 Reykjavík
ICELAND

Website: www.vg.is
E-mail: vg at vg.is
Tel.: +354 552-8872

Fundamental Policies of the Left-Green Movement
(Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt frambod)

The Left-Green Movement seeks to promote radical social improvements for
the benefit of the public, to promote the respect and protection of
nature and the environment of Iceland and to strengthen rural areas all
over Iceland. The Movement is a forum and campaign tool for those who
wish to eliminate gender discrimination and ensure equal rights, women’s
freedom and increased equality in society.

The Left-Green Movement seeks to develop a democratic and fair society
founded on the active participation of the public. The Movement rejects
the autocracy of capitalism and seeks to protect the independence of the
nation and its sovereignty over its own natural resources. The
Left-Green Movement wishes to resign membership in military alliances.
The Movement places emphasis on positive and peaceful co-operation with
all nations, protecting nature and the environment of Iceland and
ensuring the sustainable development of the society.

The Left-Green Movement believes that the classic points of emphasis of
the left movement as regards equality and social justice, radical
environmental protection views and demands for sustainable development,
should and must be integrated. Neither can survive on its own when
looking to the future. The standards of living and welfare of the
current generations cannot be based on damaging natural resources and
thus curtailing the rights of the generations that follow. In the same
manner this means that in a sound environmental policy, short-term
interests, consumerism and greed must be replaced by the protection of
the environment and the preservation of natural resources. The work at
hand is to elevate the values of the real qualities of life and create a
society where justice and equality are in harmony with Nature in its
entirety and with Mother Earth.

Fundamental Policies in Immigration Issues

o All persons living in Iceland shall be equal before the law
and, therefore, have the same rights and obligations. Immigrants shall
be shown the same respect as any other resident of Iceland.

o It is impossible to regard matters concerning immigrants as a
delimited subject. Realistic policies in these matters must touch on
most or all fields of politics and be indivisible from overall policy
formulation for the future.

o Immigrants must participate in the development of Icelandic
society in all respects. To this end, mutual adaptation and integration
of immigrants and Icelandic society is necessary.

o Municipalities shall establish multicultural policies and
continue to develop them. All such work must be undertaken in
consultation with immigrants.

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******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Committee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

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