The Albany Gazette - Greenland to get new govt to lead independence process

Trump's threats to take over the resource-rich Arctic island have shined an unprecedented global spotlight on Greenlandic politics.

All of the parties, and the majority of the 57,000 inhabitants, back independence.

But the two parties that came out on top -- the opposition centre-right Democrats and the nationalist Naleraq party -- disagree on how quickly the process should go.

The Democrats unexpectedly tripled their score to win 29.9 percent of votes. They want Greenland to cut ties with Denmark only after it has secured its own financial independence.

Naleraq, which doubled its score to 24.5 percent, wants to break free as soon as possible.

The election dealt a heavy blow to the two parties in the outgoing government coalition, the left-green Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) and social democratic Siumut.

They had dominated politics on the island since it was granted home rule in 1979.

- Setting a timetable -

As none of the five parties elected to parliament won a majority of the 31 seats, the Democrats will launch negotiations with the other parties in the coming days to build a ruling coalition.

Its party leadership met on Wednesday to hammer out its strategy.

"Which approach to independence will win the day will ultimately depend on if the Democrats decide to form a coalition government, and if so, with which party," said Dwayne Menezes, head of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative.

If the Democrats "choose to form a government with Naleraq, they would have to speed up their platform on independence and state formation", an Arctic expert at the University of Copenhagen, Lill Rastad Bjorst, told AFP.

With Naleraq, the Democrats "will likely face constant and explicit demands to outline a concrete plan for the process", added professor Anne Merrild at the University of Aalborg.

Naleraq said it envisages independence within a few years.

"We can do it the same way we exited the European Union (in 1985). That (took) three years. Brexit was three years. Why take longer?" party leader Pele Broberg told AFP on Tuesday, referring to Britain's departure from the EU.

But some voters and experts have expressed concern that a hasty break from Denmark could fuel Trump's insatiability.

The US president has insisted he will get Greenland "one way or the other", refusing to rule out the use of force and invoking US national security given rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic region.

If the Democrats were to form a government and devise an independence plan "with the other parties, they can stick to their own agenda and focus on building economic growth first," said Rastad Bjorst.

Greenland depends heavily on its fisheries sector, which accounts for almost all of its exports, and annual Danish subsidies of more than $565 million, equivalent to a fifth of its GDP.

Rastad Bjorst said politicians likely wanted to form a government quickly in order to begin negotiations with Denmark and the United States, which could provide much-needed investments.

- Call for unity -

The 2009 Act on Greenland Self-Government allows the territory to unilaterally initiate the independence process.

It stipulates that talks be held between the Danish and Greenlandic governments to reach an agreement.

That then has to be approved by the Greenlandic parliament, endorsed by a referendum on the island and voted on by the Danish parliament.

The head of the Democrats, 33-year-old Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said after Tuesday's election victory that his party was "open to talks with all parties".

"Greenland needs us to remain united, which will be the basis of our negotiations," he told a televised roundtable.

He also recalled two priorities of his campaign -- "a calm approach towards the United States" and the building of a "foundation" to enable the creation of a Greenlandic state.

Ulrik Pram Gad, a researcher at the Danish Institute of International Affairs, said he expected the Democrats to follow a moderate path.

"They will continue to push Denmark for more equality, but might be more open to Danish investments," he told AFP.

Now that "Trump's embrace has been rejected", he said -- referring to the election results -- the new government's task will be "to channel his interest towards economic cooperation."

(M.Scott--TAG)