Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman has criticised Labour and the Social Democrats for not “fighting” to be a part of the next government and instead leaving the two main parties to do deals with conservative former members.
Speaking at a convention of party members in Dublin, attended by more than 300 delegates, Mr O’Gorman said the party had the most effective smaller party in government ever and could be proud of its achievements although nobody, he said, “could be under any illusions about the scale of the losses we suffered in November”.
He said that the lack of strong advocates on climate around the next Cabinet table raised the risk that much of what the party had achieved in that and other policy areas could be lost over the next five years.
“During the recent general election campaign, I voiced my worries about what a Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael government propped up by independents would look like in terms of policy and we’re already seeing them come true in some of the briefings in the media over the last two weeks.
“Some of the risks of this new arrangement will be local road projects being prioritised over large public transport projects of national importance, climate action being watered down, social policies being retreated from ... a government scared of tackling the difficult issues, a government focused on implementing a patchwork of local deals, rather than looking out for the national interest.
“And the ease with which these conservative politicians have been able to slip into the policy driving seat has been facilitated by centre left parties that weren’t prepared to fight for power. Since the election, I’ve heard repeated statements from some of these parties saying the next government should do this, the ext government should do that. But those parties could be in government tomorrow ... could be there doing the things they say need to be done, making the changes that they see they say our society needs.
“Instead, they have dropped the mandate that they were given by the electorate. It’s genuinely shocking. And I have to ask: What is the point in chasing the vote if you’re afraid to do anything with it?”
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Participating in government, he said, was always “a risk” for smaller parties but their alternative “is what we’re about to witness here in our country now ... ceding power to the ultimate status quo arrangement, Fina Fáil and Fine Gael, propped up by a group of independents who all used to be involved in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Asked whether the Labour and the Social Democrats’ actions might have been down to their relative lack of leverage as compared with his own party in 2020, he acknowledged there was a difference but said they should still have sought a seat at the decision making table.
As it is, he said, there have to be concerns about what will happen in terms of the next government’s climate policies.
“I think we know the instincts of some of the independents who are being spoken about as being part of this next government are inherently anti-climate. That’s not an exaggeration, particularly when we look at the rhetoric I’ve heard from the Heaty-Raes over the last four and a half years.
“We have gotten a climate law in that can’t be changed,” he said. “We’ve gotten clear targets in but whether the next government will place the same focus on actually achieving those targets, that’s the real problem. Will they provide the investment to support people, to support families, to support businesses, meet those targets?”
Asked about the leadership election required under party rules to be held over the next six months, Mr O’Gorman confirmed he would be a candidate.
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