Groen (political party)
Listen Groen / i? ( German: Green) is a green party in Belgium. It occurs in Flanders ( Wallonia there Ecolo ), but it is also represented in the total Belgian Parliament and the European Parliament. Groen is a member of the European Green Party and the Global Greens.
Party History
Initially, the party under the party name Agalev (Anders Gaan Leven ) was founded. The founding members were inspired by the social movement Agalev. This movement arose in the 1970s by the Jesuit Luc Versteylen. The movement joined with environmental links Catholicism.
In the elections of 1981 for the Belgian parliament, the party won four per cent of the votes and two seats in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and a seat in the Belgian Senate. In the same election of 1981, the Walloon Greens ( Ecolo ) won the first two seats in the Chamber of Deputies and three seats in the Senate. Officially, the party was founded in 1982.
In the elections in 1985 Agalev won two more parliamentary seats in the Chamber of Deputies and two more seats in the elections in 1987 and another in 1991. Agalev Thus came in 1991 with seven seats, the Chamber of Deputies. After the 1999 elections Agalev participated for the first time at the Government Agalev politician Magda Aelvoet was cabinet member in the government of Guy Verhofstadt.
2003 slipped the party in the elections with 2.6 percent below the five-percent clause and was no longer represented in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. This defeat led to an intra-party debate. As a consequence, inter alia, the name of party Agalev was changed to Groen. Only in 2007, succeeded the Groen again with 4 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a seat in the Senate to feed. Currently, the party is led by the politician Mieke Vogels.