A Group of Students entered today the Main-Office of the Green Party of Hamburg. The Green Party, who is gouverning now in a coalition with the christian-conservative Party CDU, broke their election pledge ("whoever votes for green, votes against tution fees") only 2 weeks after the election and blocked all parlamentarian trys to disamble tution fees. Instead they builded up new tution fees with the CDU, which are now a little bit less, but therefore for all. By the old law of tution fees installed by the CDU 2 years ago, at least parents with children and disabled or ill persons did not have to pay the tution fees - now, thanks to the green party, everybody has to pay.
Furthermore, the green party was founded in the 80's to be the parlamentarian arm of the social movements which grew up strong in this decade. Now we must face that this "Going through the Institutions" has failed also in the educational sector.
The Students made a sit-in and a short-term symbolic strike of hunger (more to shock them than for real and to avoid getting more cakes from them) and tried to give a gibbet with a sun-flower (the sign of the green party) to the represantives of the party, to show them that their illusion of getting good things out of parlamentarism did not work out - they hanged up all hope in parlamentarism. The Head of the green party, who came by extra to talk to the students, tried to defend the new law and could not understand what the students dont like on paying tution fees. She was neither in the mood to pay the fees for all who can't pay the fees nor did she know her own law correctly: students had to explain them over and over again, for what shit they voted for. Still, the green party states that they are against tution fees but that they like their kind of tution fees, cause its joined work with the CDU. (doesn't make sense to you? neither to us)
The students called out to liberia, düsseldorf and colombia to show some solidarity to other groups struggeling. After 3 hours and endless discussions, a delegation of the general meeting of the faculty of pedagogik came by to show their support.They decided together that for this day the action was good and that it was a good point to stop now and leaved the building.
the commercial press was informed via press-relates and direct calls but did not cover this protest very well (til now only 2 very small articles) since they dont care about student-problems and do not want criticism on parlamentarism.
Nevertheless the students think that it was quite a successfull action, cause it was the first time for the green party to get an action against them by students. Now they have to face that thanks to their greed for power, for what they did not hesitate to betray the students and their voters, they get into the focus of the student movement. Furthermore, they proved that with partys we can't win anything. As always, we have to struggle by our own to get human rights - Voting changes nothing.
Article in german with pictures: http://de.indymedia.org/2008/11/231389.shtml