2021 Greenlandic general election
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All 31 seats in the Inatsisartut 16 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 65.92% ( 5.94pp) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Snap general elections were held in Greenland on 6 April 2021 alongside local elections.[1] Inuit Ataqatigiit emerged as the largest party, winning 12 of the 31 seats in the Inatsisartut. The governing Siumut party finished second with 10 seats.[2][3]
In November 2020, Prime Minister Kim Kielsen was defeated in a leadership election for the Siumut party, losing to Erik Jensen. However, Kielsen did not step down as Prime Minister. Growing rivalry between the two and disagreement over the Kvanefjeld mine led to the Democrats pulling out of the coalition government, leaving Siumut and Nunatta Qitornai with only 12 of the 31 seats in the Inatsisartut.[4] Kielsen failed to form a new coalition government and the Inatsisartut voted to hold snap elections.[1][5]
Rare earth mining was expected to be a key issue in the elections, with the Kvanefjeld deposit in the south of the island being subject to public hearings and party campaigning.[6][7] The metals found in Greenland are used to manufacture components in, for example, wind turbines and electric vehicles. The process is polluting but the resources experienced an increase in price due to increasing demand for electric vehicles. Uranium is also found in Greenland, but the mining of the resource faced strong opposition from residents.[8] Greenland Minerals Limited, an Australian-based Chinese-owned company had been planning a project to mine in the area of Kvanefjeld since 2007 and was on its "final hurdle".[9][10]
The opposition party Inuit Ataqatigiit called for a moratorium on uranium mining, putting into question the wider rare earth mining project, whilst the ruling Siumut party voiced support for the project, citing economic growth as a key reason.[11][12][13] In a survey to determine the public opinion on mining in the Kvanefjeld deposit, 63% opposed such activity, of which 45% were very much against.[14] Other issues, such as independence, COVID-19 policies, foreign policy, and opinions on democratic institutions were considered less important than the debate over mining.[10]
Electoral system
The 31 members of the Inatsisartut are elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. Seats are allocated using the d'Hondt method.[15]
Opinion polls
Four polls have been conducted since 2019.[16][17][18] In a poll conducted shortly before the election, the Inuit Ataqatigiit received 36% of the votes with the Siumut in second with 23%.[19]
| Date | Siumut | IA | Democrats | Naleraq | Atassut | NQ | SA | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2021 | 23.2% | 36.2% | 13.4% | 16.4% | 6.5% | 2.1% | 2.2% | 13.0% |
| 8 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| February 2021 | 29.4% | 38.4% | 11.3% | 12.2% | 6.8% | 1.2% | 0.7% | 9.0% |
| 9 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| December 2020 | 31.0% | 34.5% | 12.7% | 11.0% | 6.1% | 2.6% | 2.1% | 3.5% |
| 10 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| January 2019 | 28.7% | 30.6% | 21.7% | 10.3% | 4.5% | 2.2% | 2.5% | 1.9% |
| 10 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Tie | |
| 2018 general election | 27.4% | 25.8% | 19.7% | 13.6% | 6.0% | 4.1% | 3.5% | 1.6% |
| 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
