2021 Greenlandic general election

Last updated
2021 Greenlandic general election
Flag of Greenland.svg
  2018 6 April 2021 2025  

All 31 seats in the Inatsisartut
16 seats needed for a majority
Turnout65.92% (Decrease2.svg5.94pp)
PartyLeaderVote %Seats+/–
Inuit Ataqatigiit Múte Bourup Egede 37.4412+4
Siumut Erik Jensen 30.1010+1
Partii Naleraq Hans Enoksen 12.2640
Democrats Jens Frederik Nielsen9.253−3
Atassut Aqqalu Jerimiassen7.0820
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
2021 Greenlandic general election - Results.svg
Winning party by municipality and city (numbered circles).
  Inuit Ataqatigiit   Siumut   Naleraq
Prime Minister beforePrime Minister after
Kim Kielsen. Nordiska raoedets session i Helsingfors 2012 (cropped).jpg Kim Kielsen
Siumut
Múte Bourup Egede
Inuit Ataqatigiit
Mute Bourup Egede May 2021.jpg

Snap general elections were held in Greenland on 6 April 2021 alongside local elections. [1] Inuit Ataqatigiit emerged as the largest party, winning 12 of the 31 seats in the Inatsisartut. The governing Siumut party finished second with 10 seats. [2] [3]

Contents

Background

In November 2020, Prime Minister Kim Kielsen was defeated in a leadership election for the Siumut party, losing to Erik Jensen. However, Kielsen did not step down as Prime Minister. Growing rivalry between the two and disagreement over the Kvanefjeld mine led to the Democrats pulling out of the coalition government, leaving Siumut and Nunatta Qitornai with only 12 of the 31 seats in the Inatsisartut. [4] Kielsen failed to form a new coalition government and the Inatsisartut voted to hold snap elections. [1] [5]

Rare earth mining was expected to be a key issue in the elections, with the Kvanefjeld deposit in the south of the island being subject to public hearings and party campaigning. [6] [7] The metals found in Greenland are used to manufacture components in, for example, wind turbines and electric vehicles. The process is polluting but the resources experienced an increase in price due to increasing demand for electric vehicles. Uranium is also found in Greenland, but the mining of the resource faced strong opposition from residents. [8] Greenland Minerals Limited, an Australian-based Chinese-owned company had been planning a project to mine in the area of Kvanefjeld since 2007 and was on its "final hurdle". [9] [10]

The opposition party Inuit Ataqatigiit called for a moratorium on uranium mining, putting into question the wider rare earth mining project, whilst the ruling Siumut party voiced support for the project, citing economic growth as a key reason. [11] [12] [13] In a survey to determine the public opinion on mining in the Kvanefjeld deposit, 63% opposed such activity, of which 45% were very much against. [14] Other issues, such as independence, COVID-19 policies, foreign policy, and opinions on democratic institutions were considered less important than the debate over mining. [10]

Electoral system

The 31 members of the Inatsisartut are elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. Seats are allocated using the d'Hondt method. [15]

Opinion polls

Four polls have been conducted since 2019. [16] [17] [18] In a poll conducted shortly before the election, the Inuit Ataqatigiit received 36% of the votes with the Siumut in second with 23%. [19]

Date Siumut IA Democrats Naleraq Atassut NQ SA Lead
April 202123.2%36.2%13.4%16.4%6.5%2.1%2.2%13.0%
812452004
February 202129.4%38.4%11.3%12.2%6.8%1.2%0.7%9.0%
913342004
December 202031.0%34.5%12.7%11.0%6.1%2.6%2.1%3.5%
1012432002
January 201928.7%30.6%21.7%10.3%4.5%2.2%2.5%1.9%
101073100Tie
2018 general election 27.4%25.8%19.7%13.6%6.0%4.1%3.5%1.6%
98642111

Results

Inatsisartut 2021.svg
PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Inuit Ataqatigiit 9,93337.44+11.6612+4
Siumut 7,98630.10+2.6610+1
Naleraq 3,25212.26–1.2940
Democrats 2,4549.25–10.443–3
Atassut 1,8787.08+1.1220
Nunatta Qitornai 6392.41–1.040–1
Cooperation Party 3761.42–2.690–1
Independents100.04New0New
Total26,528100.00310
Valid votes26,52897.86
Invalid/blank votes5812.14
Total votes27,109100.00
Registered voters/turnout41,12665.92–5.94
Source: Qinersineq.gl

By party, those elected were: [20]

Aftermath and government formation

After the election results came in, Inuit Ataqatigiit leader Múte Bourup Egede thanked voters for their win while Siumut leader Erik Jensen said that his party would wait to see what IA would offer during the coalition negotiations. [21] Siumut Prime Minister and former leader Kim Kielsen received more personal votes than Jensen, [22] which led to a continuation of the party infighting between the two as Jensen affirmed his desire to continue as leader after the election and deputy leader Inga Dora Markussen partially blamed Kielsen for the loss. [23]

On 8 April Egede said that his party had begun negotiations with other parties the day before and that he expected a coalition to be formed after 15 April, at which point IA would have met with each party a few times. [24] After Egede expressed a desire for a government with at least 16 seats, the second round of negotiations began on 9 April; [25] later that day the Democrats ruled out forming a coalition with IA citing irreconcilable views and wishing Egede luck in forming a coalition. [26] On 13 April, Egede announced that negotiations with Siumut had also fallen through, blaming infighting within Siumut for their inability to come to an agreement. [27]

On 16 April, it was announced that IA had successfully negotiated a coalition agreement with fellow pro-independence party Naleraq which would hold a combined 16 seats in the legislature (a one seat majority). Atassut announced that they would be willing to support the coalition. [28]

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References

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  15. Election Profile IFES
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