Atassut (, also referred to as Feeling of Community) is a

liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

and unionist political party in Greenland. Founded on 29 April 1978, Atassut is an established partner of Venstre.

History

Atassut was established in late 1976 as a

political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

and unionist forces in Greenland to oppose

Siumut Siumut (SIU, ; ; ) 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 ...

with Lars Chemnitz as its leading figure; however, it soon became more liberal. Its first programme from January 1977 stated that its purpose was to "promote Greenlandic home rule within the Unity of the Realm" and "work against secession from the Danish realm." Atassut was founded as a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

on 29 April 1978. The party's name literally translates as "link" (in the context of being linked with Denmark as part of the Danish realm), but can also refer to a roof which binds a house together. Previously one of the two largest and most influential political parties in Greenland, the Atassut has seen its share of the popular vote consistently decline since the mid-1990s. In the 2001 Folketing election, the party lost its only representative and has never regained a seat in the Danish parliament. In the June 2009 snap election, the party dropped to 10.9% of the vote, and lost three of its six seats. In the following election in 2013 the party was reduced to two seats, which they maintained in the 2014 elections despite fewer votes. Both MPs later defected to Siumut, one of whom was its chairman Knud Kristiansen. From the 2014 parliamentary election to 2016, Atassut was a part of a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

government, led by Kim Kielsen from Siumut, that also including the

Inuit Ataqatigiit Inuit Ataqatigiit (, old spelling: , , , IA) is a democratic socialist, Greenlandic independence, pro-independence political party in Greenland. It is represented in the Folketing (the Danish parliament) by Aaja Chemnitz Larsen. Múte B. Egede ha ...

. In debate of refugees in Greenland in 2017, Atassut and Atassut Youths have been strong on not accepting refugees in to Greenland, where

and

want to take in refugees. In the 2018 general election, Atassut gained two seats in the Inatsisartut despite having no

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

s after both their MPs had defected to

. In the 2021 election, Atassut retained its two seats. Following the election, Atassut offered external support to the governing coalition formed by the

and Naleraq parties.

Ideology

Atassut has been referred to as liberal,

, and

. The party supports

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of public industries, a form of

citizen's income Citizen's dividend is a proposed policy based upon the Georgist principle that the natural world is the common property of all people. It is proposed that all citizens receive regular payments (dividends) from revenue raised by leasing or tax ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

co-operation, and Greenlandic affiliation with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The party was previously opposed to Greenlandic home rule; Atassut later shifted to supporting home rule and autonomy, but without leaving

the unity of the Realm The Danish Realm, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply Denmark, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united by the Constitutional Act, which applies to the entire territory. It consists of metrop ...

. The party has moved from a traditional right-wing position towards later supporting the subsidisation of primary-sector business, alongside the centre-left

party.

Election results

Inatsisartut

Folketing

Atassut was already established as a political movement at the time of the Folketing election on 15 February 1977, and the three Atassut founders Arqalo Abelsen, Ole Berglund and Otto Steenholdt ran as an association of candidates, which got 8,391 votes and Otto Steenholdt elected.

Leaders

*2019– Aqqalu Jerimiassen *2017–2019 Siverth K. Heilmann *2017 Qulutannguaq Inuk Berthelsen (acting; after Knud Kristiansen left the party) *2014–2017 Knud Kristiansen *2009–2014 Gerhardt Petersen *2005–2009 Finn Karlsen *2002–2005 Augusta Salling *1993–2002 Daniel Skifte *1989–1993 Konrad Steenholdt *1985–1989 Otto Steenholdt *1979–1984 Lars Chemnitz

Notes

References

External links

Atassut official site (archive)
{{Danish political parties Greenlandic unionism Nordic agrarian parties Conservative liberal parties Liberal parties in Greenland Political parties in Greenland 1976 establishments in Greenland Political parties established in 1976 Conservative parties in Greenland