Neighbors' Alternative

Neighbors' Alternative
Alternativa dos Veciños
Leader Ángel "Gelo" García Seoane
Founded 1979 (1979)
Merger of Various local neighbor associations
Ideology Socialism
Participative democracy
Galicianism
Anti-imperialism
Political position Left-wing
Municipal council of Oleiros
14 / 21
Municipal council of Culleredo
3 / 21
Provincial deputation of A Coruña
1 / 31
Website
alternativadosvecinos.org

Neighbors' Alternative (Galician: Alternativa dos Veciños; AV) is a left-wing political party active in the Comarca of A Coruña, Galicia.

History

The party was formed in 1979 by citizen associations of the 9 parroquias of Oleiros to run for the 1979 local elections (the first democratic ones since the Spanish Second Republic in the 1930s). The associations considered that the municipality had chronic problems of pollution, lack of schools, lack of urban planning and privatization of public services[1]. AV won a landslide, with 4,113 votes (65.81% of the total) in the election. José Luis Martínez Suárez became the mayor of the municipality. In the 1983 elections the party suffered a setback, gaining only 5 seats and losing the mayor to the Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG). AV won the elections again in 1987, and has won every single municipal election in Oleiros since then. Ángel "Gelo" García Seoane has been the mayor of the municipality since 2003. Between 1996 and 2003 the mayor was Esther Pita Pita (Seona was disqualified to hold public office during those years)[2]. Seoane had also been the mayor between 1987 and 1995. Prior to the 2015 local elections the party expanded its presence outside of Oleiros, to all the Comarca of A Coruña. In those elections AV presented lists in 3 municipalities: Culleredo (won 3 seats), Arteixo (no representation) and A Coruña (no representation)[3]. AV wants to expand its presence to more municipalities before the 2019 municipal elections[4].

Ideology and government

Statue of Che Guevara in Oleiros.

The ideology of the party is based on left-wing politics and direct democracy. AV also supports anti-imperialist movements in Latin America (mainly the Cuban revolution) and Palestine[5][6][7]. The mayor of Oleiros is supporter of Fidel Castro[8], that was declared an honorary councilor of the municipality in 1984[9], and the municipality has a statue of Che Guevara.

Oleiros is also known for its urban planning, with a wide range of social services and public facilities: gyms and swimming pools, a network of libraries, centers for the elderly, playgrounds, green spaces, auditoriums, houses of municipal property that are given free to neighbors to organize parties and birthdays and artificial turf football fields[10]. Oleiros has the higher indexes of social housing and green spaces per inhabitant of all Galicia[11][12].

Organization

AV has a Monitoring Committee, an Executive Committee and permanent councils in the 9 parishes of the municipality. The party has a system of primary elections in which candidates are previously chosen by the parish assemblies of the party, to guarantee that all parishes have representation in the final list. The 30 elected candidates (3 for each parish) then run in an open primary election. 3,119 (11,8% of the registered voters of the municipality) people participated in the 2015 primaries[13].

People who are elected as council members are controlled by the Executive Committee. This system of citizen involvement in municipal management is also reflected in the participatory budget of the municipal council, in which the local citizen entities of each of the 9 parishes take part[14][15].

Election results

Election Municipal council of Oleiros
Votes % Position Seats +/–
1979[16] 4,113 65.81 1º
12 / 17
 New
1983[17] 1,787 26.38 2º
5 / 17
 Decrease7
1987[18] 3,296 40.46 1º
8 / 17
 Increase3
1991[19] 4,362 53.20 1º
10 / 17
 Increase2
1995[20] 4,913 42.53 1º
9 / 21
 Decrease1
1999[21] 4,913 41.22 1º
9 / 21
 =
2003[22] 7,286 45.40 1º
10 / 21
 Increase1
2007[23] 6,249 37.37 1º
9 / 21
 Decrease1
2011[24] 8,386 48.47 1º
11 / 21
 Increase3
2015[25] 9,353 60.61 1º
14 / 21
 Increase3
Election Municipal council of Culleredo
Votes % Position Seats +/–
2015[26] 1,849 13.94 3º
3 / 21
 New
Election Municipal council of Arteixo
Votes % Position Seats +/–
2015[27] 633 4.52 5º
0 / 21
 New
Election City council of A Coruña
Votes % Position Seats +/–
2015[28] 1,834 1.54 7º
0 / 21
 New

References

  1. ↑ A nosa historia
  2. ↑ José Luís Jiménez: Gelo contra todos o contra si mismo. ABC, 15/05/2007.
  3. ↑ Local elections results in the Province of A Coruña. El País, 2015.
  4. ↑ Alternativa dos Veciños intentará entrar en el próximo gobierno de A Coruña. La Opinión de A Coruña, 07/10/2017.
  5. ↑ Un alcalde bolivariano en el pueblo de los ricos. El Mundo, 17/12/2015.
  6. ↑ Oleiros reclama justicia para Palestina. La Voz de Galicia, 24/03/2017.
  7. ↑ Gala artística y pasacalles en solidaridad con Palestina hoy en Santa Cruz. La Opinión de A Coruña, 28/10/2017.
  8. ↑ Un alcalde bolivariano en el pueblo de los ricos. El Mundo, 17/12/2015.
  9. ↑ Oleiros pierde a su concejal Fidel. La Opinión de A Coruña, 29/11/2016.
  10. ↑ Oleiros, el municipio más rico de Galicia donde la derecha vota a un alcalde que venera al Che Guevara. Público, 31/10/2016.
  11. ↑ Oleiros, el municipio más rico de Galicia donde la derecha vota a un alcalde que venera al Che Guevara. Público, 31/10/2016.
  12. ↑ El extraño caso de Oleiros. La Opinión de A Coruña, 12/10/2016.
  13. ↑ Alternativa dos Veciños publica los resultados de sus primarias. La Opinión de A Coruña, 09/02/2015.
  14. ↑ Oleiros inició las consultas con las entidades sociales para lograr un «presupuesto participativo». La Voz de Galicia, 22/09/2003.
  15. ↑ Más allá de las ciudades en crisis. Diagonal, 07/07/2014.
  16. ↑ Resultados municipales 1979
  17. ↑ Resultados municipales 1983
  18. ↑ Resultados municipales 1987
  19. ↑ Resultados municipales 1991
  20. ↑ Resultados municipales 1995
  21. ↑ Resultados municipales 1999
  22. ↑ Resultados municipales 2003
  23. ↑ Resultados municipales 2007
  24. ↑ Resultados municipales 2011
  25. ↑ Resultados municipales 2015
  26. ↑ Resultados municipales 2015
  27. ↑ Resultados municipales 2015
  28. ↑ Resultados municipales 2015
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