2009 Greenlandic general election

General elections were held in Greenland on 2 June 2009. Prime Minister Hans Enoksen announced the election date on 15 April 2009, stating that he would prefer for a newly elected parliament to administer Greenland when the self-government reform takes effect on 21 June 2009.[1] The reform gave more power to the Greenlandic parliament with decisions on most issues being devolved to the parliament but defence and foreign affairs remaining under the control of Denmark.[2]

On 7 June 2009, Community of the People announced that it would form a coalition with the Democrats and the Independents.[3]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Inuit Ataqatigiit	12,457	44.06	14	7
Siumut	7,567	26.76	9	1
Democrats	3,620	12.80	4	3
Atassut	3,094	10.94	3	3
Association of Candidates	1,084	3.83	1	0
Sorlaat	383	1.35	0	New
Independents	70	0.25	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	235	–	–	–
Total	28,510	100	31	0
Registered voters/turnout	39,990	71.29	–	–
Source: Election Passport, Parties & Elections

Popular vote IA   44.1% S   26.7% D   12.8% A   10.9% KP   3.8% SP   1.4% Other   0.3%

Parliamentary seats IA   45.2% S   29.0% D   12.9% A   9.7% KP   3.2%

Election summary

The pro-independence, left-wing opposition party, Inuit Ataqatigiit (Greenlandic for: Community of the People), led by Kuupik Kleist, won the election, getting 43.7% of the votes.[2][4] The governing Siumut Party (Greenlandic for Forward) led by Prime Minister Hans Enoksen took 26.5% of the vote and lost control of the government for the first time in 30 years.[2]

Siumut is likely to be left out of government as both the Inuit Ataqatigiit and Demokraatit parties have ruled out the possibility of working with Siumut.[5] Siumut's former coalition partner, Atassut, gained too few seats to make a new coalition powerful enough to challenge for the government.[5]

A particular set-back for Siumut was the failure to re-elect Jonathan Motzfeldt, a familiar figure in Greenlandic politics having been the state's first and third prime minister who received just 91 votes and failed to be re-elected for the first time since 1971.[5] Enoksen has stated that he would step down as party leader, a position he has held since 2002, if his colleagues wish him to.[5] Siumut is believed to have lost votes over a recent series of scandals, including one over expenses, and concerns over its ability to manage with greater autonomy.[4]

Kleist set a new record for most votes in a Greenlandic election with 5,461 received. This compares with Akitsinnguaq Olsen who was elected with just 112 votes.[5] Greenland has a population of 57,600 people.[6]

The newly formed Sorlaat Partiiat gained just 383 votes in the election and dissolved shortly afterwards. The party stood on a platform of huge spending reductions and opposed Greenland rejoining the EU.

References

1. Simonsen, Mariia (15 April 2009) Landstingsvalg 2. juni 2009 Archived 16 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine (in Danish). Sermitsiaq.
2. "Opposition win Greenland election". BBC. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
3. http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200906072019dowjonesdjonline000390&title=greenland-parties-agree-on-government-coalition
4. "Pro-independence party wins Greenland poll". Agence France Presse. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
5. "Greenland wakes up to first power shift in 30 years". Copenhagen Post. 3 June 2009. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
6. "CIA world factbok". CIA. July 2009.