Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
elects on national level a
legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
. The
Greenlandic Parliament
The Inatsisartut ( kl, Inatsisartut; '' da, Landstinget, lit=''the land's- thing'' of Greenland''), also known as the Parliament of Greenland in English, is the unicameral parliament (legislative branch) of Greenland, an autonomous territory* ...
(''Inatsisartut in
Greenlandic'') has 31 members of parliament, elected for a four-year term by
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
.
[''Greenland Country Profile'' ]
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) ElectioGuide Greenland has a
multi-party
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coa ...
system (disputing on independence and unionism as well as left and right), with numerous
parties
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...
in which a single party normally does not have a chance of gaining power alone, and therefore the
parties
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...
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 years 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.
[Explainer: The Greenland Parliamentary Elections- 2021, 2021]
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.
Latest elections
General elections
Local elections
Danish elections
See also
*
Electoral calendar
This national electoral calendar for 2022 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2022 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
* 16 January: Se ...
*
Electoral system
An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections ma ...
References
External links
Election results from 2002-present (in English)Adam Carr's Election ArchiveElectoral politics, party performance, and governance in Greenland: Parties, personalities, and cleavages in an autonomous subnational island jurisdiction
{{Greenland topics