Greens could change rules to keep leader Cohn-Bendit

By David Cronin

Date: 09/03/06

Green MEPs are debating a change to the statute of their political group to allow Daniel Cohn-Bendit to secure a third term as leader.

The current rules only allow a Green leader to serve two terms, each of a two-and-a-half year duration.

As Cohn-Bendit was elected the group's co-president along with the Italian Monica Frassoni in 2001, his second term is to conclude at the end of this year.

But Green sources have confirmed that the group is examining the possibility of amending its statute to allow him to remain in his position. The group is likely to vote on this amendment by the summer.

One Green MEP said that a majority of Cohn-Bendit's colleagues would be in favour of him remaining as their leader because he was regarded as by far their most charismatic member.

The question of Frassoni also serving a third term could depend on the results of the Italian general election in April. She has been tipped as a potential minister if the left-leaning Olive Tree alliance headed by Romano Prodi wins the election.

A spokeswoman for Cohn-Bendit would only say that a change of rules would be necessary if he was to seek a third term as co-president of the Greens.

Cohn-Bendit, who first came to prominence as an anarchist student leader during the 1968 riots against Charles de Gaulle's administration in Paris, has been a passionate advocate of European integration in more recent years.

But his support for military intervention in some crises has led to clashes with Greens who adhere to pacifist views. At the time of his election as an MEP in 1994, he broke with the German Greens' opposition to sending German troops abroad by arguing that they should be deployed in Bosnia. He was also criticised by Green MEPs in 2001 when he said that US strikes against Afghani- stan were justified.

His support for the EU constitution has also irked some colleagues. Although Greens in France and the Netherlands campaigned in favour of a 'Yes' vote in the referendum on the constitution last year, their stance was not shared by sister parties in Sweden and the UK.

Article reports that Green MEPs were debating a change to the statute of their political group to allow Daniel Cohn-Bendit to secure a third term as leader. The current rules only allowed a Green leader to serve two terms, each of a two-and-a-half year duration. As Cohn-Bendit had been elected the group's co-president along with the Italian Monica Frassoni in 2001, his second term was to conclude at the end of 2006.

The Greens/European Free Alliance: Homepage http://www.greens-efa.org/

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