Patricia McKenna seeking nominations for Green Party Leader

[David Cochrane]

Patricia McKenna, former MEP and unsuccessful Dail candidate for Dublin Central, has circulated an email amongst Green members asking for nominations to run for the leadership of the party.

The letter, which is republished in full here on Politics.ie was sent by an assistant to the party General Secretary on behalf of Ms McKenna. The letter sets out that a candidate needs 50 proposers in order to be a candidate. She is not asking for people to vote for her, she explicts states this is not her request, but for a nomination as she believes there should be a contest.

She makes it clear a number of times that she does not want the leadership contest to be about being for or against the decision to go into government, but sets out she believes it is about "effective operation of democratic party structures".

You can read the letter in full on Politics.ie here.

[David Cochrane]

Subject: From Patricia McKenna - URGENT Nominations for party leader
To: info@greenparty.ie

Dear Green Party member,

As you know nominations are now being sought for leader of the Green Party.

After much thought and consideration I have decided to put my name
forward for this contest.

I realize that it will be extremely difficult to achieve the very high
threshold set by the NEC of the party to be a candidate; the new rules
stipulate that to be a candidate one must have the names and addresses
of 50 paid up members who are willing to be nominators. This is about
5% of the total electorate. However, I am going to try as I believe it
is important to have a contest for this important party position and
for the voices of alternatives within the party to be heard. I am
writing to ask for your support for having an election for the
leadership by agreeing to be one of the 50 people prepared to nominate
me. I am not at this stage asking you to vote for me in the election,
I am just asking for you to help me go forward as a candidate by
agreeing to let me use your name as one of the 50 names needed to
nominate me.

Regardless of the outcome of this campaign, I do feel that the process
itself will give us all an opportunity to express our views and
concerns and may provide a healthy forum for debate in particular in
relation to the operation of democratic structures within the party.

I would like to point out that this will not be a campaign to rehash
the decision taken in the Mansion House to go into Government with
Fianna Fail and the PDs. I now consider that this decision has been
taken and that regardless of whether one supported the proposal or
opposed it we have to work with the decision and ensure that our TDs
get all the backing and support they need. And I have a feeling they
will very much need it. In the end regardless of how things work out
it is essential that the party survives the major challenges ahead and
that members are encouraged to stay within the party and help ensure
it maintains the principles on which it was first founded.

To that end I believe that this contest for the leadership can be used
in a positive and constructive way to encourage debate about the
decision making structures within the party. We need to assess how
decisions are taken and how involved local elected representatives,
non elected representative and ordinary members feel in this process.
This would be my key focus during the campaign in the hope that the
future leader whoever they may be will address any inadequacies that
may have evolved over the past few years. Its important from a green
point of view to remember our grass roots and not to loose sight of
the principles we are all committed to.

So from my point of view this will NOT be a campaign about 'in or out
of Government' nor will it be a campaign about 'policy' as these are
issues for other forums. It will be basically about the effective
operation of democratic party structures and the need to preserve or
repair them as the case may be.

As I do genuinely want to avoid this being a rehash of the party's
decision on Government I am seeking nominations from both those who
supported the decision and those who opposed it. 50 members is a very
large number so I am appealing to as many of you as possible to lend
your support as soon as possible.

If you are willing to be one of the 50 nominees I would appreciate if
you would email me directly to that effect so I can get an idea of the
numbers and how many I will still need.

I have to supply the Green Party Office with names and addresses by
6th of July deadline.

My email is xxxx My phone numbers are XXX or
xxxx


Thank you for your attention.

Patricia McKenna

Dublin Central Green Party

[Pidge]

Oh please oh please not enough nominations... :P

[QuizMaster]

Why not? You want to stifle debate within the party?

I'm all for it.
I wouldn't vote for Patricia, but I think this is certainly a good chance for people to air their opinions.

The letter is a bit long winded and repetitive, with at least one typo.

[Insider2007]

Oh God. The thought of Patricia as leader. She is not exactly the most clued in character, to put it mildly.

[cyberianpan]

As I do genuinely want to avoid this being a rehash of the party's
decision on Government I am seeking nominations from both those who
supported the decision and those who opposed it.
50 members is a very large number

Given the small numbers that voted against no wonder she's looking for all votes.

cYp

[Pidge]

Why not? You want to stifle debate within the party?

No no, I'm not against debate. I'd be in favour of an alternative candidate, just not...anyway.

Nice weather out, eh?

[EoinMn]

Awh Pidge, why do you hate democracy?

[flyer]

Looks like the Greens are about to mature into a fully fledged Irish Political Party and have a split. The nation needs a strong Green Party in Government committed to driving environmental policies and they would be far stronger if they hit the eject button on the tiny, but vocal, raving looney anarchist "I don't wash because lice have rights too" element that give the whole party a bad image.

[EoinMn]

I hope the weather holds.