Worldlog Marianne Thieme 3 April 2018
Great breakthrough! With no less than 33 seats in municipal councils, we made a spectacular growth at the municipal elections of 21 March last. Our number of seats in the municipal councils almost trebled. We celebrated this in our party’s room with vegan cake and campaign. Increasingly more voters want to end the stone age and the large-scale de-greening. We will be the green anchor in all municipalities where we participated, in the opposition or in a coalition. Voters, campaign team, all active members and supporters all over the world: Thanks!
Marianne and the rest of the group celebrating
In March, there were also elections in Australia in the State of South Australia where there were 58 seats in total to be divided. Our sister party Animal Justice Party (AJP) participated in these elections for the first time and won thousands of votes but unfortunately not enough for a seat. The Australian voting system makes it hard for small parties to gain a seat. With this election result, however, AJP has shown that it is a serious political factor which other parties must consider. The result shows that increasingly more Australians want a society that is led by compassion, sustainability, and respect for all living creatures! Congratulations, AJP and Australians!
Campaign by Animal Justice Party South Australia
On the 16th of March, I submitted a new legislative proposal for a general obligation to stun all animals before they are slaughtered. In the Netherlands there already is a statutory obligation to stun animals before they are slaughtered, but an exception is made for halal and kosher slaughter. We want to cancel that exception. The mutandis slaughter of animals leads to unacceptable animal suffering. Although every religious person has the right to live his religious truth the way he wants to, it does not give him the right to infringe other beliefs or the welfare of humans or animals. The religion of the slaughter should not make a difference for an animal. But meanwhile we will of course continue to fight against factory farming as a whole!
People sometimes think that everything is organised well where it concerns animal welfare. Last week, the supervisor of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) found that poultry farms often deliberately violate animal welfare and food safety regulations . It still happens too often that animals, for example, have too little food and drinking water. It is high time that the Minister of Agriculture starts to tackle this seriously. We have already asked questions in the Lower House.
Anja Hazekamp at the roundtable in the European Parliament on spring hunting
News from our European political party. Our MEP Anja Hazekamp has taken the lead in the fight against the hunting of migratory birds on Malta. Together with other members of the European Parliament (EP) of several political groups, she called upon the European Commission to start infringement proceedings against Malta and to put a stop to the spring hunting. During her visit to Malta last year, Anja witnessed several illegal hunting activities herself. Anja also requested a debate in the EP about this issue.
Marianne with Djurens Parti in 2017
Finally, some nice news: On the 14th of April, I am going to visit our Swedish sister party Djurens Parti to help them with the preparations for the Swedish elections. I will also give a lecture that Saturday night in Stockholm about the importance of our growing political movement for animals, people and the environment. This is a public lecture, so invite all your Swedish friends and acquaintances and if you happen to be near Stockholm yourself, please join us! The number of available seats is limited, so I recommend to already reserve your free ticket here.
Until the next time!
Marianne