Scotland the brave

It may have been more foolhardy than brave of the Scots to hold several elections on one day. A tenth of votes cast were spoiled because voters were confused. On some ballot papers they were required to mark their choice with an X and on others by expressing their preferences in numbers. The referendum and the general election in Malta in 2003 produced similar results even though they were held weeks apart.

In Scotland, the complexity of the result seemed to baffle the BBC journalists sent to cover the story. At one point a commentator was heard to combine the scandal of the spoiled ballots with the fact that the Greens are now the fourth largest political party. What exactly did he mean? Are Green supporters more able than others to scratch their nose and rub their bellies at the same time?

What I read into the comment was that the poor journalist was aghast at the fact that the Greens would play a crucial part in forming the next government at Holyrood.

Robin Harper, the Scottish Greens' leader, cut a fine figure standing next to Alex Salmond of the SNP reporting the results of their negotiations to the press. Robin made it clear that the Greens would help the SNP to form a government. There were no major difficulties but he would consult the party before confirming that a deal had been struck.

The Scottish Greens have had a major responsibility thrust upon them and they are not merely coping with it but handling it with style. The other minority party, the Lib Dems, has not been able to come to terms with the SNP's promise to hold a referendum on independence for Scotland while excluding any possible coalition with Labour. In a way, the Lib Dems have dictated terms to Scotland: There can be no majority coalition either way. The Greens can hardly be expected to oppose a referendum on anything. It becomes a matter of making terms with the SNP to give the minority government greater legitimacy.

Only a few months ago the Czech Greens faced a similar challenge. Their support was needed to form the first Black Green national government. Negotiations there were followed with great interest across Europe. It had been a knife-edge result. Czech Green leader Martin Bursik needed all his skill and courage to make it possible by overcoming trepidation and reluctance within his own party to produce a workable result.

The Finnish Greens are in government also. The Finnish Greens return to the government by making concessions and achieving gains to participate with two ministers in the new Cabinet. Nobody in Finland was flabbergasted. Democracy of a very high quality has always been a part of Finnish reality.

It will be a new experience for the Irish if the Greens there will have a part to play in forming a government after the elections due at the end of this month. They have been in Parliament for some time already but they have never been called upon to serve in an Irish government. Still, it will not be as much of a shock for Irish journalists at it was for the man in Scotland. The Irish have managed very well with various coalitions over the years.

Being out of government after serving two terms in a coalition was the fate of the German Greens in the last election there. Joschka Fischer's speech after the election already made it clear. He had served the Greens, Germany and Europe superbly. Rather than running ahead of the crowd, as most politicians seem to do these days, he had provided leadership when it was needed. He also managed to bow out with dignity.

For the Italian Greens life has been harder. While the German Greens broadened their support and became mainstream, the Italians sought survival in the kaleidoscope of Italian politics by reconfirming their core vote. They are in government now but not in better shape than the French Greens, whose former Environment Minister, Dominique Voynet, contested the French presidential elections.

On June 10, the Belgian Greens will face the polls once more. There two Green parties will participate but not compete in the parallel worlds of Belgian politics: Flemish and Walloon.

In the Netherlands politics means coalitions. Neither of the two Green parties there are in government. It's not unusual. It will change. They are a permanent feature of Dutch politics.

In Sweden the Greens are strong but in Norway and Denmark, nothing like it. For very different reasons, the Greek Greens also are far from penetrating that bipolar reality.

In Poland the Greens have a history of participating in government but are now largely excluded. In Latvia we have had a Green Prime Minister and in Cyprus we have a member of Parliament. Greens are strong in Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland but weak in Slovakia, Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria. Slovenia holds promise but Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are in an embryonic stage. Albania has forged ahead. There are Greens in Andorra and Turkey, Tunisia and Australia, in Kenya, in Brazil and in Japan, all in very different situations. The Canadian Greens are something to watch out for but the US Greens have the hardest time of all.

And Malta? Going just by our results in the EP elections in 2004, that astounding 9.2 per cent, we are the fifth largest Green Party in the EU. We have no business letting it go to our heads. We know what we are up against and that we will have to make our own way. It is time that Malta caught up with the rest of the world and moved from the rude and crude winner-takes-all gamble to an era where life is difficult for politicians rather than for their victims, when they will have to negotiate and seek consensus rather respond to criticism with a smug, patronising, because-I-said-so smirk. It will be very different. It will be much better. It could even get more civilised. Most people will agree that Malta can easily afford to be Greener than it is or can hope to be in the hands of our adversaries and possible allies.

Dr Vassallo is chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika - the Green party.

www.alternattiva.org.mt, www.adgozo.com