en | Member Parties
Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds (ICV) Spain
Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds - Spain
contact persons
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contact persons |
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| President: |
Joan SAURA presidencia@iniciativa.cat
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| Secretary General |
Jordi GUILLOT jguillot@iniciativa.cat
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| Vice Presidents: |
Joan HERRERA Imma MAYOL Jaume BOSCH Mercè RIVADULLA
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| International affairs coordination: |
Ernest URTASUN Susanne RIEGER
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| European Green Gender Observatory coordinator: | Marta MARTINEZ dones@iniciativa.cat |
Greens in Catalan Government |
2 Ministers in the red-green Catalan Government:
Joan SAURA, councillor of Inner Affairs, Institutional Relations and Participation
Francesc Baltasar I Albesa, councillor of Environment and Housing
Regional Parliamentary Group |
Grup ICV-EA al Parlament de Catalunya
Palau del Parlament
Parc dela Ciutadella s/n
E-08003 Barcelona
Contact person: MP Dolors Camats
dolors.camats@parlament.cat ; grupicv-ea@parlament.cat
Ph.: +34933046564
Fax: +34933046574
www.iniciativa.cat/gruparlementari
National Parliamentary Group |
Grupo parlamentario de Izquierda Unida - Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds
Carrera de San Jerónimo, 40
E-28071 Madrid
Contact person: MP Joan HERRERA
joan.herrera@diputado.congreso.es
Ph.: +34913906136
Fax: ++34933010612
www.iniciativa.cat/congres
Senate
Entesa catalana de progrés
Plaza de la Marina Española, 8
E-28071 Madrid
Contact person: Senator Jordi GUILLOT
jguillot@iniciativa.cat
Ph.: +34933010612
www.iniciativa.cat/congres
Members of the national parliament
Members in the European Parliament |
Raul ROMEVA, MEP
EP-ASP 08 G 253, rue Wiertz, B-1047 Brussels
Ph: 32 2 284 5645
Fax: 32 2 284 9645
raoul.romeva@europarl.europa.eu
www.raulromeva.cat
www.greens-efa.org/romeva_i_rueda
party profile |
Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds - Beginning and development
Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds (Initiative for Catalonia-Greens) was created in 1987 as a federation of parties, whose goal was to foster an alternative national left-leaning project. There were initially three parties: PSUC (Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya, Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia), PCC (Partit dels Comunistes de Catalunya, Catalan Communist Party) and the Entesa Nacionalista d'Esquerra (Left-wing Nationalists Agreement). Rafael Ribó was elected President of IC in the 1st Assembly and he stayed in office until the 6th Assembly.
In the first National Assembly (Castelldefels, 1990) the coalition evolves into a political party, based on the equality of rights and obligations, whatever origins affiliate members might have. The running of the party considerably changed, thanks to the two constituent parties' will to unite, handing over social interaction, institutional politics, economic and human programmes and resources to IC, and also thanks to the presence of independent affiliates. Social and national matters, i.e. the political influence of the two constituent parties, will be the two mainstays of the new project.
The Programme-Manifesto and the Declaration of Principles stated the complex and innovative identity of the party during the second Assembly (Molins de Rei, 1992). IC emerges as a party with a new left-leaning idiosyncrasy, combining communism, ecology and republicanism, represented with the colours red, green and violet. This happens at the same time that left-leaning parties are discussing their roles, after the fall of the Soviet Union. IC sees itself as the transformation party that proposes to go beyond Capitalism, having gathered different ideas and political traditions.
The 3rd Assembly (Barcelona, 1993) will lead to the consolidation of the party's organization and the launch of our project. The possibility of gaining more electors and affiliates will be confirmed in the local and autonomous election in 1995. During these years, ecology started to gain importance to IC, which led us to the IC-Green alliance.
The Fourth Assembly (November 1996) is the keystone in our political history. We stated our left-leaning, green-socialist nature and decided to foster an innovative alternative to the conservative CiU (Convergence and Unity) Government, together with other left-leaning Catalan parties.
The Fifth Assembly (Barcelona, November 1998) has had two main goals. Firstly, the deepening of our green convictions, which required a change of name: Iniciativa per Catalunya-Verds. And secondly, the shaping of the green-socialist features and the best way to foster a left-leaning Government change, which lead us to adopt an approachable attitude towards the best possibility in order to have a left-leaning majority.
The Sixth Assembly (Barcelona, 2000) with three main issues. 1. to strengthen the organic and electoral autonomy, stressing the vital importance of ICV both in the Catalan society and to be an alternative left-leaning option. 2. new intern mechanisms, such as primary elections to elect candidates for the election or for the paty organs, or binding referenda. 3. the election of Joan Saura to the presidency of the party, after Rafael Ribó.
A new political party
As the vote abstention and affiliation rates indicate, the citizen-nation mediation role of political parties is obviously in crisis, there is scepticism and lack of trust. Here are some of the reasons that explain this situation in our nation:
- Hierarchy and the rigid authority vertical line from upper positions to the bottom of the political parties.
- Politics are often trivialised, giving more importance to the electorate's vote rates.
- Favouritism and corruption.
- A lack of guidelines due to the international left-leaning party's crisis.
- A citizen attitude change, giving priority to private life and free time and losing ideologies and the sense of belonging to a community.
Despite all these facts, NGOs have proliferated. They are the new political players and offer good alternative means of political participation, although they avoid political parties' bureaucracy and hierarchy, and sometimes the traditional left-leaning spheres. Regardless of our opinion, political parties and trade unions, the two mainstays of the workers movements, no longer have the monopoly on democratic and social transformations in the society.
From the beginning, IC has had the will to propose another way of making politics, avoiding conservative views. Our main political values are:
- Approachable politics towards a social transformation.
- A political organization and mechanisms towards an influence society.
- Politics is nothing religious. We have to avoid totalitarian cosmos visions, dogmatism and create a renewable non-static political identity.
We make an innovative organization proposal based on these values. Here are the main views, which summarise our project:
- Internal Democracy and affiliates' participation in order to contrast opinions and make sure that they identify themselves with the political points of views of the party. To that end, we have created some mechanisms, such as primary internal elections, national study days, assembly of the candidates to elections, and internal referenda. Experience shows us that these mechanisms have defects (at national and European level), this is why we have to keep working in order to improve them.
- Intern pluralism, both for individuals, who must be able to express their opinions and participate actively, and for the group of affiliate people, who are able to coordinate themselves and create opinion groups on specific and general issues.
- Extern participation approachable attitude. IC affiliates are responsible for decision taking, but we want to open participation areas to the rest of the society. We are looking for mechanisms to allow the electorate and people who agree with us to take part in our intern debates. We also keep close contact with Trade Unions, student associations, conscientious objectors, NGOs…
- Men and women rights balance NOW. We can not think only in terms of adopting anti discriminatory policies. We must think how to reorganise our society paying attention to women's time distribution, and not only men's.
- As a left-leaning party, we praise our affiliate and give them flexibility to combine political affiliation and their personal lives (work, family, free time, friends,) because our organization bases its work on commitment and voluntary work.
- Intern communication mechanisms. We communicate through publications such as "Initiative and Work", institutional groups and local organization leaflets and the usual party activities.
- Training and political dialogue for the affiliates. Historically left-leaning parties have had a very important socialisation role, which of course has changed throughout the years, but we try to give common citizens a chance to take part in political and cultural spheres, which they would never have had.
current government |
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CATALONIA
- Catalan Government: Partit del socialistas de Catalunya, Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
- Other Parties Represented in Catalan Parliament: Convergència i Unió, Partit Popular,
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SPAIN
- State Government: Partido Socialista Obrero Español
- Other Parties Represented: Partido Popular, Convergència i Unió, Izquierda Unida, Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, Bloque Nacionalista Gallego, Coalición Canaria, Chunta Aragonesista, Nafarroa Bai, Eusko Alkartasuna.
election information |
Next National Elections:
Latest Green Party Election Results:
- National Election year: 2008
MPs: 1
Total No. National Votes: 181.753
% Gained: 4.93 - European Elections: 2004
MEPs: 1
Total No. European Votes: 150.925
% Gained: 7.19 - Catalunyan Region Elections: 2006
MCPs:12**
Total No. Catalunyan Votes: 280.000**
% Gained: 9,7** -
Local elections: 2007
Local councillors: 456
Total No.Votes: 258.573
% Gained: 9.03** Coalition of Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, Esquerra Alternativa (Alternative Left) and Entesa de Progrés Municipal (Agreement for Municipal Progress).