Until then in the opposition, the Party of Center Law Democrats has won the legislative elections in Greenland with 29.9 % of the votes, despite the push of the nationalist party in favor of rapid independence of the Danish autonomous territory, according to the official results published on Wednesday March 12. The parties of the coalition hitherto in power record a clear decline placing themselves in third and fourth position of the ballot.
According to the latest results, the Democratic Party, self -proclaimed training “Social-Liberal” Favorable to independence in the long term, multiplied by more than three its score in the previous election in 2021. The nationalists of Naleraq, the most actively committed for the Danish autonomous territory broke its remaining links with Copenhagen, are placed second with 24.5 % of the votes.
The outgoing coalition made up of Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA, ecological left) and SIUMUT Social Democrats was very largely sanctioned by voters who have moved en masse. The losing 15.3 points and Siumut 14.7 compared to four years ago. Never had Greenland elections experienced such an international impact, a consequence of the aims of the American president who wants to get down to the territory by alternately waving the carrot and the stick.
“Democrats is open to discussion with all parties and in search of unity, especially with what is happening abroad”said his young 33-year-old leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, former Groenlandian Badminton champion. “We respect the result of the election”reacted on Knr the outgoing Prime Minister, Mute Egede, head of AI.
More than 70 % participation, no majority
None of the parties being in a position to obtain the majority on the 31 seats in Parliament, negotiations will now be necessary to form an alliance. In particular, this will have to sketch the terms and a calendar leading to independence that the vast majority of 57,000 inhabitants want.
A sign, perhaps, of a Trump effect, the participation was high, more than 70 %. Convinced that he can seize ” either way “ From the Danish autonomous territory, the Republican American president tried until the last minute to weigh on the elections, causing stupefaction, rejection and, more rarely, enthusiasm among the 57,000 inhabitants.
The only Greenland polling station, located in the Nuuk capital, has not been full on Tuesday for the legislative elections likely to sketch a calendar leading to the independence of the territory. Initially scheduled at 8 p.m. (11 p.m. in Paris), its closing schedule has been extended by half an hour to allow all voters, queuing to deposit their bulletin, proof of a high participation rate, confirmed by electoral officials.
The outgoing Prime Minister of Greenland, Mute Egede – of which it was 38e Anniversary – had voted at the beginning of the morning, without making declarations. “Our country is in the eye of the cyclone”he had launched the day before on Facebook. “The outside world looks closely and we have seen recently how much they try to influence our country”.
Differences on the calendar of possible independence
The campaign has revolved around health, education, economy but also future links with Denmark which continues to exercise the sovereign functions (diplomacy, defense, currency, etc.) on the island. At almost 90 % inits, the Greenlanders deplore having been treated historically as second-class citizens by the former colonial power accused of having stifled their culture, proceeds to forced and withdrawn from children to their families.
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A feeling reinforced by the recent broadcast on Danish public television of a documentary – criticized and finally withdrawn – saying that Denmark had drawn enormous profits from the exploitation of a crying mine on the island, however often presented as a financial burden.
Like the vast majority of the population, the main Greenlandic parties all want independence, but they diverge on the calendar. Some people quickly want it-like Naleraq-while the others, like the two components of the outgoing coalition, IA and Siumut (social democrats), condition it to the economic progress of Greenland.
Covered with 80 % ice, the territory is economically dependent on fishing, which represents almost all of its exports, and the annual aid of around 530 million euros paid by Copenhagen, or 20 % of the local gross domestic product. For the most impatient separatists, Greenland could stand on its own feature thanks to its mineral resources. But the mining sector remains ultra-embraced for the time being, weighed down by high operating costs.