Prior to the decision on sending German troops to Afghanistan last year, Joschka Fischer said "I plead with you: don’t leave me and my policies in the cold".

Seven months on it seems that the Green foreign minister's policies may well play their part in leaving the Green Party in the cold in the coming elections.

At the behest of Mr. Fischer, the Green Party in November agreed to the sending of German troops to Afghanistan, breaking a fundamental pacifist principle which had labelled the Green Party since it grew out of a 1980s peace movement that opposed the deployment of US missiles in Germany.

With many left-wing members still deeply resistent to German military action abroad, the decision revealed a growing rift between the party’s base and its leadership since the Greens took on the role of junior partner in Germany’s ruling coalition.

Indeed, the rift proved fatal to the Green party, with voter numbers dropping and recent polls showing they may well not make the 5 per cent need for the September election.

But as the elections loom on the horizon, the Greens, a party recently marred by dissent, demonstratively pulled themselves together during a recent party conference which saw little of the controversy of the previous months.

Pragmatism instead of principles

Sunday’s party conference focused on traditional - and popular - election issues such as renewable energy resources, better integration of immigrants and equality for women. Missing were exact details on subjects unpopular with the electorate, such as the planned ecology tax rise – a clear example of the party’s struggle to keep a grip on traditional pacifist principles, while playing up to its role as junior coalition partner.

With Fischer - Germany’s most popular politician - as party candidate for the coming elections, the Greens are very much following their mainstream counterparts in putting personalities before programmes.

But despite Fischer’s widespread popularity, the Green Party is still lagging behind the liberal Free Democratic Party in voter support, with 6.7 per cent as opposed to the FDP's 10 per cent.

According to Bernhard Wessels, political scientist at Berlin’s Free University "the FDP has presented itself as young and liberal". But the Greens, he says, appear older.

"It was less so in the past" he said.

Party evolution

The Green Party has made a huge leap from a collection of anti-war and environmental activists in the 60s and 70s to a partner in a national coalition. The move rid the party of the long-held stereotype that they were little more than hippies wearing knitted jumpers, Birkenstock sandals and sunflowers.

German humorist Wiglaf Droste calls today’s Greens "a mere majority builder for Schröders SPD ...., a party for architects, dentists and teachers, who want to put their children to bed with a clear conscience".

There is some truth in his words. Take Fischer, the onetime 60s rioter who wore white Nike sneakers to his swearing in as environmental minister in 1985.

Supporters say Fischer, very much the Foreign Minister in sleek suit and leader allures, helped to elevate the reputation of the party to a global level. Others say he personifies the negative way in which the Greens have morphed from a successful opposition party into a compromise-ready member of the political establishment.

Losing members

The party’s evolution has taken its toll: On their way from peace movement to partner in the national government, the Green Party have been losing members, especially those who once belonged to the first Green Party generation.

Various Green Party members from the first hour have accused the party of going into the parliamentary elections without a profile, warning them of focusing too hard on the political centre.

Among those disallusioned is co-founder and Member of European Parliament Daniel Cohen-Bendit. "If you only have an electorate in the political centre, then you can lose an election on the left".

However, as the Green Party remains a vital and enlivening factor in Germany party politics, they may prove more resistent than currently thought.

As Fischer said at Sunday's party conference: "They won't get rid of us".