Donderdag 19 maart 2009

Met dank overgenomen van M.L. (Marianne) Thieme i, gepubliceerd op donderdag 19 maart 2009.

Vandaag uitgebreid interview in The Bihar Times met de vooraanstaande politica, milieu-activiste en strijdster voor dierenrechten Maneka Gandhi. In het interview met The Bihar Times droomt de voormalige minister hardop over de mogelijkheid om in India een Partij voor de Dieren te mogen vertegenwoordigen in het parlement.

Ze zegt onder meer:

“Animal welfare needs to become part of our political agenda. This is not such a distant dream. Environmental protection has already become a huge political issue. Obama’s opposition to oil drilling in the ocean won him the crucial environmental vote. Since his film, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, Al Gore carries more political clout than when he was Vice President. All European countries have Green parties. Holland has an Animal Party. The Dutch 'Party for Animals' leader Marianne Thieme, 34, is a jurist who until recently was president of an animal protection agency. Her growing frustration over the lethargic attitude of established parties to animal issues provided the motivation to secure animals a voice in politics. Well known Dutch authors and opinion leaders have joined the party and a growing number of Dutch people are questioning why selfish economic interests should prevail over ethical considerations when it comes to animal and environmental protection. In its first election, the party has already won 2 parliamentary seats out of 150 ( the Indian equivalent would be 12 seats, which is larger than most parties in Parliament today. The party’s priority is to end all animal suffering. It wants a constitutional amendment, guaranteeing animals the right to freedom from pain, fear and stress caused by humans.

India may not yet have a party for animals but there are plenty of reasons why animal welfare should be on every election manifesto. “

Geweldig dat onze missie 6500 km verderop zo naadloos begrepen wordt, waar in Den Haag nog lang niet iedereen lijkt door te hebben waar de partij voor staat;-)

We mogen er trots op zijn dat we na twee jaar in de actieve politiek al mensen in zoveel landen hebben kunnen inspireren. En we staan nog maar aan het begin!

Tot morgen.

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