Greenland elects on national level a legislature. The Greenlandic Parliament (Inatsisartut in Greenlandic ) has 31 members of parliament, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. [1] Greenland has a multi-party system (disputing on independence and unionism as well as left and right), with numerous parties in which a single party normally does not have a chance of gaining power alone, and therefore the parties must work together in order to form a coalition government.
Greenland has held parliamentary elections since 1979 when the Home-Rule act came into force. when this happened the islands were broken off into eight constituencies: Central Greenland, South Greenland, North Greenland, Ittoqqortoormiit, Qaanaaq, Tasiilaq, Upernavik and Uumannaq. However, in 1998, they were all remerged back into one constituency due to a want to consider Greenland's interests as a whole, instead of the regional interests. Due to the number of seats in Greenland's parliament it takes a minimum of sixteen seats to form a majority government. Also, terms can be cut short if a government finds a majority against it or if the sitting prime minister decides to call one, and this is fairly normal. For example, an election came unexpectedly in April 2021, as the administration that had been running since 2014 by Kim Kielsen of the Siumut Party, due to the withdrawal of one of its coalition partners, Demokraait. [2]
One of the major debates in Greenland politics is whether to unionise or be independent. This debate divides parties and politicians between two poles. Greenland is currently one of two autonomous territories of the Kingdom of Denmark. This means that Greenland is a part of Denmark's international territory that has a degree of autonomy and self-governance under a national government. Some politicians in Greenland want to become fully independent from Denmark and stand under the independence side of Greenland's politics. On the other hand, some politicians want to keep a strong union with Denmark and remain an autonomous territory.
Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Inuit Ataqatigiit | 9,933 | 37.44 | +11.66 | 12 | +4 | |
Siumut | 7,986 | 30.10 | +2.66 | 10 | +1 | |
Naleraq | 3,252 | 12.26 | –1.29 | 4 | 0 | |
Democrats | 2,454 | 9.25 | –10.44 | 3 | –3 | |
Atassut | 1,878 | 7.08 | +1.12 | 2 | 0 | |
Nunatta Qitornai | 639 | 2.41 | –1.04 | 0 | –1 | |
Cooperation Party | 376 | 1.42 | –2.69 | 0 | –1 | |
Independents | 10 | 0.04 | New | 0 | New | |
Total | 26,528 | 100.00 | – | 31 | 0 | |
Valid votes | 26,528 | 97.86 | ||||
Invalid/blank votes | 581 | 2.14 | ||||
Total votes | 27,109 | 100.00 | ||||
Registered voters/turnout | 41,126 | 65.92 | –5.94 | |||
Source: Qinersineq.gl |
Sum of local elections – turnout 63.8% ( 2.7%) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Vote totals | Seats | ||||
Number | Percent | Change | Number | Change | ||
Inuit Ataqatigiit | 9,822 | 37.6% | 5.2% | 32 | 6 | |
Siumut | 9,454 | 36.2% | 5.3% | 31 | 8 | |
Naleraq | 2,794 | 10.7% | 6.1% | 8 | 5 | |
Atassut | 1,942 | 7.4% | 4.4% | 6 | 3 | |
Democrats | 1,800 | 6.9% | 1.3% | 4 | ||
Nunatta Qitornai | 243 | 0.9% | New | 0 | New | |
Others | 43 | 0.2% | New | 0 | New | |
Blank/Void | 518 | |||||
Overall Totals | 26,691 | 100.0% | 81 |
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government where political parties enter a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election. A party not having majority is common under proportional representation, but not in nations with majoritarian electoral systems.
The politics of Greenland, an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, function in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament Inatsisartut. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Greenland has full autonomy on most matters, except on policies and decisions affecting the region including negotiations with the devolved legislatures and the Folketing.
Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary secular democratic republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the Prime Minister of India is the head of government. It is based on the federal structure of government, although the word is not used in the Constitution itself. India follows the dual polity system, i.e. federal in nature, that consists of the central authority at the centre and states at the periphery. The Constitution defines the organizational powers and limitations of both central and state governments; it is well recognised, fluid and considered supreme, i.e. the laws of the nation must conform to it.
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy where executive power is delegated by legislation and social conventions to a unitary parliamentary democracy. From this a hereditary monarch, currently King Charles III, serves as head of state while the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, currently Rishi Sunak since 2022, serves as the elected head of government.
The prime minister of Denmark is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Before the creation of the modern office, the kingdom did not initially have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the monarch, in whom the executive authority was vested. The Constitution of 1849 established a constitutional monarchy by limiting the powers of the monarch and creating the office of premierminister. The inaugural holder of the office was Adam Wilhelm Moltke.
Siumut is a political party in Greenland in the social democratic tradition. Since the establishment of home rule in 1979, it has been the dominant party in Greenland. Siumut is led by Erik Jensen, who beat the then-incumbent Prime Minister Kim Kielsen in a tight leadership contest in late 2020.
The Folketing, also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Established in 1849, until 1953 the Folketing was the lower house of a bicameral parliament, called the Rigsdag; the upper house was the Landsting. It meets in Christiansborg Palace, on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen.
Convergence and Union was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller counterpart, the Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC). It was dissolved on 18 June 2015.
There are three types of elections in Denmark: elections to the national parliament, local elections, and elections to the European Parliament. Referendums may also be called to consult the Danish citizenry directly on an issue of national concern.
Inuit Ataqatigiit is a democratic socialist, separatist political party in Greenland that aims to make Greenland an independent state. The party, founded as a political organisation in 1976, was born out of the increased youth radicalism in Denmark during the 1970s. Traditionally in favour of a socialist economy, the party has been criticised from the left of having gradually moved towards a capitalist approach, supporting a market economy and privatisation. Inuit Ataqatigiit believes that an independent Greenland should be competitive while fighting to keep the environment clean.
The Assembly of the Republic, commonly referred to as simply Parliament, is the unicameral parliament of Portugal. According to the Constitution of Portugal, the parliament "is the representative assembly of all Portuguese citizens". The constitution names the assembly as one of the country's organs of supreme authority.
The Democrats is a liberal, unionist political party in Greenland.
Naalakkersuisut is the chief executive body and the government of Greenland since the island became self-governing in 1979. An autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is a parliamentary representative democratic territory, in which the premier leads the cabinet, and of a multi-party system.
Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results.
The politics of Denmark take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state in which the monarch of Denmark, King Frederik X, is the head of state. Denmark is a nation state. Danish politics and governance are characterized by a common striving for broad consensus on important issues, within both the political community and society as a whole.
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania in two stages on 20 October and 10 November 1996. All 141 seats in the Seimas were up for election; 70 based on proportional party lists and 71 in single member constituencies. Where no candidate gained more than 50% of the vote on 20 October, a run-off was held on 10 November.
Greenlandic independence is a political ambition of some political parties, advocacy groups, and individuals of Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, to become an independent sovereign state.
General elections were held in Vanuatu on 22 January 2016. The previous elections occurred in October 2012. The president of Vanuatu, Baldwin Lonsdale, dissolved the Parliament of Vanuatu in November 2015. This occurred after the conviction of 14 parliamentarians for bribery. The convicted MPs include former Prime Ministers Serge Vohor and Moana Carcasses Kalosil. The president called for a snap election to form a new government.
After being a part of the European Communities (EC) for twelve years, Greenland withdrew in 1985. It had joined the EC in 1973 as a county of Denmark, even though a majority in Greenland was against joining. In a consultative referendum in 1982, 53% of the electorate of Greenland voted to withdraw from the Communities. This latter referendum became possible after the introduction of home rule in Greenland in 1979. Following its withdrawal, which was regulated through the Greenland Treaty, the relationship between Greenland and the EC was partly settled through an association under Overseas Countries and territories (OCT) status. In recent years, the Greenlandic withdrawal from the European Communities has marginally been referred to as "Greenxit".
Nunatta Qitornai is a separatist political party in Greenland advocating independence. It was founded in September 2017 by former Minister of Business, Labour, Trade and Foreign Affairs Vittus Qujaukitsoq, who had previously been in Siumut and who was subsequently elected in the 2018 Greenlandic parliamentary elections. In the 2021 elections the party lost its seat.