Ecologist Party "The Greens"

The Ecologist Party "The Greens" (Portuguese: Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes", pron., or PEV) is a Portuguese Eco-socialist party, a member of the European Greens and a founding member of the European Federation of Green Parties.

It was the first Portuguese ecologist party and since its foundation, in 1982, the PEV is closely related to the Portuguese Communist Party, and now (as of 2005), after participating allied with it in the Unitarian Democratic Coalition in several elections, the PEV holds many mandates in local assemblies and two seats in the Assembly of the Republic.

The Party's youth wing is the Ecolojovem. It edits a newspaper named Folha Verde and its headquarters are located in Lisbon.

History and general info
The Party was founded 1982, originally named Movimento Ecologista Português - Partido "Os Verdes", by a group of Portuguese citizens interested in the promotion of the ecologist movement in the Portuguese society and the support of the Portuguese Communist Party and including in its founders one of its members, Zita Seabra.

In the end of the 1970s, the World was facing new ecological problems, such as the greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone layer and the lack of awareness of this among the Portuguese society, along with the lack of an organized Ecologist movement led to the foundation of the Ecologist Party "The Greens" in order to put such problems in the political agenda.

The Party created regional groups right after its foundation, groups that never stopped growing since then. The growth of the Party throughout the country allowed many members to integrate the electoral lists of the CDU, some being elected to very different tasks. Currently (as of 2005), The PEV has several members elected in Municipal Assemblies and Parish Assemblies and two members elected in the Assembly of the Republic (Portuguese parliament). Those two members are Heloísa Apolónia and Francisco Madeira Lopes.

There is widespread criticism on its close ties to the Communist Party, given that PEV never applied to elections on its own, those criticisms going to the point of nicknaming PEV "The Watermelons - Greens Outside, Reds Inside". The fact is official positions of both parties in certain questions are quite different: for example, PCP supports nuclear energy, while PEV is against.

The PEV is also present in the National Electoral Commission and also in the National Council of Education.

The youth wing of the Party is the Ecolojovem, founded in 1989, which is a founding member of the Federation of Young European Greens.

The PEV edits a newspaper, the Folha Verde (Green Leaf), which received several press prizes for its unique design and style.

Electoral results


In elections, the PEV is closely allied with the Portuguese Communist Party, first in the Unitarian Democratic Coalition. This explains a nickname given to the Os Verdes by some: "melancias" (lit. watermelons): green outside, red inside.

Results in parliamentary elections
(source: Portuguese Electoral Commission)

Note:


 * ''In brackets is the number of MPs elected by the PEV in the total elected by CDU.
 * In 1991 the overall number of MPs changed from the original 250 to 230.

Results in local elections
(source: Portuguese Electoral Commission)

Results in European Parliament elections
(source: Portuguese Electoral Commission)

Note:


 * In 2004, after the enlargement of the European Union, the number of MEPs elected by Portugal decreased from the original 25 to 24.