The Demokraatit party must forge alliances
At a press conference held at the International Press Centre, Rasmus Leander Nielsen, professor at the University of Greenland, discusses the potential coalitions that Demokraatit could form.
In a historic turn of events, which we reported on this morning, the right-wing Demokraatit party won Greenland’s elections last night, with 30% of the vote. It won 10 out of 30 seats and still needs to form a majority coalition to dominate parliament. According to Rasmus Leander Nielsen, professor at the University of Greenland and specialist in international affairs and security, there are several possibilities, and no clear trend.
The question of the United States is a matter of consensus. Even Naleraq, the party most in favor of closer ties with the USA, said in a televised debate that it could not trust the Trump administration. According to Rasmus Leander Nielsen, no party that garnered significant votes strayed from the slogan: “We don’t want to be Danish, we don’t want to be American, we want to be Greenlandic.”
“Nobody talked about starting independence today, but there was clearly a rejection of the status quo,” believes the researcher. Naleraq, the most pro-independence centrist party in the island’s political spectrum, would like to start negotiations with the Danish government to change the regime. Contrary to the intentions of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, the most left-wing party on the spectrum, which advocates a referendum on independence.
Questions of geopolitics and sovereignty aside, everyday life, pensions, employment, housing and education were also at the heart of the political debate. “Unlike four years ago, when the debate revolved around uranium – if we simplify things – this time, two types of interest intersected in the debate: everyday life and geopolitics”, assures the researcher.
Demokraatit could enter into a dialogue with Naleraq or Inuit Ataqatigiit, with whom it already collaborated in 2009, setting aside the centrist Siumut party. Compromises on the issue of mining resources will have to be found in these cases. Rasmus Leander Nielsen points out that the future coalition could “theoretically include up to four different parties”, before adding that “the initial coalition could evolve and new parties could be found”.
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