Ruling Siumut party retains slim majority in Greenland election

TGX Energy & Resources

29/11/2014 07:57

COPENHAGEN, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Greenland's ruling Siumut 
Party retained a slim majority in a snap election called after 
an expenses scandal, according to results issued early on 
Saturday, but its new leader Kim Kielsen will need to build a 
coalition to form a government. 
    Siumut, which has formed every single government in 
Greenland but one since 1979, won 34.3 percent of the vote. 
Opposition party Inuit Ataqatigiit, led by Sara Olsvig, won 33.2 
percent, Greenland's official election website showed. 
    Although both parties won the same amount of seats in 
parliament - 11 each out of a total of 31 - Kielsen is expected 
to lead coalition negotiations as his party received more votes. 
    Greenland, whose capital Nuuk is closer to New York than 
Copenhagen, became a Danish colony in the early 19th century but 
has been gaining its own powers since World War Two, introducing 
a parliament in 1979 and self-governance in 2009.  
    A Siumut-led government may comfort the few foreign 
investors who have ventured into Greenland to develop mining. 
The party lifted a ban on uranium mining, opening the door to 
rare earth projects which often generate uranium as a byproduct. 
    Inuit Ataqatigiit had vehemently opposed the lifting of the 
ban and had promised to reinstate it, although the party was 
keen to emphasise it was not against mining per se. 
    Greenland's vast mineral and oil potential could form the 
foundation for complete independence from Denmark. But projects 
are in limbo due to low commodity prices, uncertainty over 
regulations, as well as the sheer difficulty of dealing with 
Greenland's isolation and lack of infrastructure. 
 ID:nL2N0TH13E   ID:nL2N0TG0G9  
         
 
 (Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki; Editing by Pravin Char) 
 ((sabina.zawadzki@thomsonreuters.com; +45 33 96 96 50, +45 20 
54 86 88;)) 
 
Keywords: GREENLAND ELECTION/