Greenlandic general election, 2013

Greenlandic general election, 2013

12 March 2013
All 31 seats in the Parliament of Greenland. 16 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	74.2%
First party Second party Third party   Kuupik Kleist Leader Aleqa Hammond Kuupik Kleist Gerhardt Petersen Party Forward (Siumut) Inuit Ataqatigiit Atassut Last election 26.5% 43.7% 10.9% Seats before 9 14 3 Seats won 14 11 2 Seat change 5 3 1 Popular vote 12,910 10,374 2,454 Percentage 42.8% 34.4% 8.1% Swing 16.3% 9.5% 2.8%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Jens B Frederiksen Leader Nikku Olsen Jens B. Frederiksen Anthon Frederiksen Party Inuit Democrats Association Leader since 24 January 2013 Last election N/A 12.7% 3.8% Seats before New party 4 1 Seats won 2 2 0 Seat change 2 2 1 Popular vote 1,930 1,870 326 Percentage 6.4% 6.2% 1.1% Swing 6.4% 6.5% 2.7%
Prime Minister before election Kuupik Kleist Inuit Ataqatigiit Elected Prime Minister Aleqa Hammond Forward (Siumut)

General elections were held in Greenland on 12 March 2013. The opposition Siumut party emerged as the largest in Parliament, winning 14 of the 31 seats. On 26 March Siumut leader Aleqa Hammond became Greenland's first female Prime Minister.

Electoral system

The 31 members of Parliament were elected by proportional representation in multi-member constituencies. In Nuuk there was just one polling station.

Campaign

The main campaign issue was exploitation of the island's mineral wealth. The ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit party supported allowing foreign workers, most of whom would be Chinese, into the country to work in the mining industry, whilst the Siumut party was opposed to the proposal. Rare earth elements were of particular concern.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Siumut	12,910	43.22	14	+5
	Inuit Ataqatigiit	10,374	34.73	11	–3
	Solidarity	2,454	8.21	2	–1
	Inuit Party	1,930	6.46	2	New
	Democrats	1,870	6.26	2	–2
	Association of Candidates	326	1.09	0	–1
	Independents	9	0.03	0	–
Invalid/blank votes		263	–	–	–
Total		30,136	100	31	0
Registered voters/turnout		40,613	74.20	–	–
Source: Election Passport, Parties & Elections

Government formation

Following the election results, Siumut leader Aleqa Hammond claimed that she was "in no hurry to form a coalition" and would wait to hear the demands of the other parties. Hammond ultimately formed a government with Solidarity and the Inuit Party. Siumut took six of the eight cabinet posts, with Solidarity taking the Health and Infrastructure portfolio and the Inuit Party taking the Environment portfolio.