On the thought of Scandinavia, the first reflection in most people’s head is that of its thrilling scenic beauty. Apart from the beautiful phenomena, its locals are rich in intriguing cultures worth emulating. Key among the notable traits of Scandinavians is ecological consciousness edified by the Green Party. Across the countries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, there is a sense in which the Green Party ideologies permeates conservative political ideologies and ushers in a purpose driven political discourse.
Without a doubt, an environmental party should excel in an eco-preservative society. However, the opposite is true in Scandinavia. Despite its high rank as a prominent environmentalist, its Green party is on the verge of collapse. If it could be as easy as some people think, the Green party could be celebrating its success by now.
With everything in the party’s favour, getting to terms with its struggle is unbelievable. Without much thought, flip through this piece and give thanks later. Going by the two Scandinavian countries, you are yet to unravel some of the untold about the party.
Green Party in Sweden
Going by records, 70 years of the Swedish political system was nothing to rejoice about. Having a small, unopposed political party for decades, 1988 marked a new face in Swedish politics. At such a time, the Green party launched into parliament with more dominating policies. Favoured by the media and voters, the party won overwhelmingly. It won with almost half of the public voting in its support.
Nevertheless, since 2014 it has morphed into a warning story. Sadly, many Swedes are predicting a failure in Green Party’s future. To them, it has failed to address critical environmental issues regarding climatic changes. For instance, its let-down to close Stockholm airport and ring road has put off many of its likings.
Through government, the party violated the Swede’s Climatic goals of reducing fuel tax. Instead of pushing for renewable energy while portraying laxity, the bill won. One among the many ironies is the globally praised environmental activist Greta Thunberg. Despite her fame as a phenomenon activist, Green Party in her country is at its snapping point.
As if that is enough, the backlash of resigning leaders is yet another bombshell out of the blues. Just recently, the shocker of pull out by Isabella Lövin was intolerable to the party. Despite her exit, no one seems ready to replace her vacant hot seat immediately! The Green Party leader accused the Right party of pushing them out of parliament. They did so by shutting one’s eyes, to critical environmental measures.
Green Party in Norway
After being launched in Sweden in 1988, later in 1989, Green Party (Miljøpartiet De Grønne) undertook its first national election in Norway. Even so, it won no seat and only had 0.4 percent of voters in its hold. Such like brought doubt on whether Norway has environmental concerns on the checklist. Well, they do, and ironically, it was the second rank among matters of concern during the election period.
Just like other Scandinavia, Norwegian elections focus on climatic changes and the future of its oil. For the polling parties, it is disheartening to balance climatic change with social inequality. Becoming a ruling coalition is a nightmare for the party, given its anti-drilling attitude. As much as Norwegians are eco-sensitive, they still rely on oil and gas extraction to make ends meet.
In his speech, the Green Party leader pointed out that the other party cashed in on their hard work. He further mentioned, how close to all parties were entitled to’ klimavalg’ in the polling elections. In return, competition became more intense with all parties under the ‘climate election’ umbrella. To add to the list of fallout, Oslo voters, this is its stronghold, departed halfway to join the opponent. Such came along after the party held campaigns against meat.
The Red–Green Alliance in Denmark
Denmark’s green party is referred to as The Red–Green Alliance. The party aims at social change politics with politics that can solve environmental issues. Despite its foundation in 1989, it has been unable to be successful in national politics. For instance, in 2019, 6.9% and in 2022 they got just 5.1% of the votes. However, the party still works towards enhancing global society.
It seems like the Red–Green Alliance is not doing well despite Denmark being a green country. For example, in 2019, the party got 13 out of the 179 parliamentary seats. Unfortunately, the number reduced in 2022, an indication that the popularity of the party is reducing. It only managed 9 out of the 179 parliamentary seats.
The party puts emphasis on fighting poverty and social inequality. However, despite that, they have failed to attract voters. Maybe the voters want more than what the party offers. Voters do make a surprising decisions during elections. Therefore, since they have never been in government, they have been unable to implement their policies.
All in all, unlike Germany and Russia, the Scandinavian Green party is on the lag. Not that it is incompetent, but because the difference between opponent parties is quite negligible. Both left and right parties agree that action to reduce emissions is necessary. In short, the tough competition in Scandinavia is the reason behind the Green party’s struggle.
