Berlin  - Born in the 1970s out of opposition to nuclear power, nuclear weapons and pollution, Germany's Green party spent two terms in governing coalition with the SPD - arguably making it the most electorally successful green party in the world.

Suits and executive power have long since supplanted, or at least supplemented, the party's early days of street protests and train blockades on the fringe of the political mainstream.

Today, the Greens hope the general election on September 27 will return them to power, after a seven-year government coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) ended in 2005.

And they have a new media star in the making, to fill the void left by the departure of the charismatic Joschka Fischer, who served as Germany's foreign minister for seven years from 1998.

The party's co-leader Cem Ozdemir is of Turkish origin - rare in both the Green party and in German politics as a whole.

Ozdemir says green votes are almost more important than a return to power.

In keeping with the Greens' principles, Ozdemir shares his job with Claudia Roth, a former rock band manager who is considered the green soul of the party.

"Whoever votes for us is sending a signal to the other parties," Ozdemir said, adding that support for the Greens pushed the party's core themes onto the broader political agenda.

"The Greens were always called tree-huggers, but now I have the feeling that other parties include green-huggers," Ozdemir said.

Ozdemir is Germany's first party leader from an immigrant background. The "Anatolian Swabian," recognizable by his formidable sideburns, joined the party aged 15 and represents a younger generation of Greens.

The 43-year-old personifies the party's policies on equality and immigration, and says his motivation stems from the days when options were closed to him due to his background.

A favourite anecdote recounts the day that Ozdemir told his class he wanted to go on to the top level of the German school system, which prepares children for university entrance.

"My whole class laughed at me. That is a laugh that you don't forget," Ozdemir told German Press Agency dpa.

The son of a factory worker, Ozdemir is frequently dubbed Germany's Obama.

While he points out that the Greens are too small to appoint the chancellor, Ozdemir says he could imagine a day when a migration background would no longer be a bar to entering highest office.

For now, the party leader entertains more modest hopes of being voted into parliament on a so-called direct mandate, representing the city of Stuttgart, which is not a traditional Green stronghold.

In line with their principles, the Greens have also have two joint chairs of the parliamentary party - Renate Kuenast, who represents the "realist" faction, and strategist Juergen Trittin, from the party's more "fundamentalist" left.

"We work as a duo," Kuenast said. In press conferences, they speak alternately. Asked whether they operate as two halves of the same brain, Kuenast jokingly replied, "Which is the emotional side?"

Without an obvious single coalition partner to propel them back into government, the Greens now aim to become third strongest party in parliament, behind Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic alliance (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD).

On top of this, they hope to block a coalition between the CDU/CSU and the Free Democrats (FDP) - Merkel's favoured option - which they consider least sympathietic to their policies.

Opinion polls give the Greens around 11-12 per cent of the vote, slightly behind the FDP and almost on a par with the Left Party.

The party's favoured partner, the SPD, is languishing at ratings around 23 per cent, meaning a third partner would have to come on board to form a government with SPD and Greens.

"We are worried that the SPD has given up the fight," Kuenast said, adding that the party seemed resigned to a junior position in a new "grand" coalition with the CDU.

The Greens' election pledges centre on a "Green New Deal" to resolve the economic crisis, through social and environmentally sustainable policies that would create up to 4 million new jobs.

They would like to raise the top tax bracket to 45 per cent, reduce welfare contributions for low-income groups, and create 500,000 new places at universities.

The party also advocates equality, including marriage and adoption rights for gay and lesbian couples. They believe immigrants should have the right to dual citizenship.

Traditional "green" policies include opposition to nuclear power and the introduction of a speed limit on motorways, as well as writing climate protection into the constitution. (dpa)