The parliamentary elections are over – now the game for power begins

Although the parliamentary elections are over, the battle for power has only just begun.

For now the government negotiations are starting, and there are many possible combinations. Because neither the red nor the blue bloc in Denmark can gather a majority without the party in the middle; the Moderates. The red bloc ended up with 84 seats, while the blue bloc can muster 77 seats.

Since the four North Atlantic seats count exactly as much as all other seats, it is therefore very likely that they will also be invited to negotiations at Marienborg in the near future.

Ready for negotiations

The country's biggest vote-getter Qarsoq Høegh-Dam, who scored 4,619 personal votes for Naleraq, has already announced his readiness for negotiations on behalf of Greenland.

“Now it's about getting started with the work. I plan to leave for Denmark as soon as possible so that I can take part in the meetings there,” he told Sermitsiaq immediately after it became clear that the party would get a member in the Folketing for the first time after an election.

IA keeps the stool

Qarsoq Høegh-Dam can thus take over his younger sister's office and the party staff at Christiansborg, because Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam moved from Siumut to Naleraq during the latest period.

Inuit Ataqatigiit can also keep their office, because even though the experienced politician Aaja Chemnitz did not run again, the party got the most votes of all with 6,133.

Leading candidate Naaja H. Nathanielsen got the third most personal votes with 1,953, but takes over the stool due to the party's total vote. At the same time, she waves goodbye to the position as naalakkersuisoq for business, raw materials, the justice sector, energy and equality, which she explained to Sermitsiaq in this way:

– Both jobs are important, but in the next few years it is really important to represent Greenland in the Folketing and speak our case in a world that has changed radically. So I am really looking forward to doing that, and I am sure that Múte can find a suitable candidate in my place as a post for naalakkersuisoq.

A second place was not enough

Thus Demokraatit was bypassed this time, but the lead candidate and member of the Naalakkersuisut with responsibility for health and people with disabilities, Anna Wangenheim, can take comfort in a personal vote of 2,358 out of the party's 3,767 votes.

Sermitsiaq caught Anna Wangenheim immediately after the result was clear, where she expressed that it was a shame, since she did get the second most personal votes, but that was how it works technically in the election.

Mandates not decisive for government formation

Associate professor at the Danish Institute for International Studies Ulrik Pram Gad points out that the Danish election result means that it is not immediately the North Atlantic mandates that will be decisive in the formation of a government. They should therefore focus on coordinating so that they have the greatest possible influence on a future government basis.

In the latest government basis from 2022 "Responsibility for Denmark", there was an entire section on the Commonwealth, including that the government would work for a strengthened and more equal cooperation based on the principle that Greenland and the Faroe Islands should be actively involved in decisions that affect them.

Influence on the government basis

The newly elected members from Greenland and the Faroe Islands have the same opportunity for influence. But this requires that they work in a focused and coordinated manner.

– Their mandate is not particularly valuable right now, so it is probably better for them to use their efforts to coordinate internally and perhaps also involve Naalakkersuisut and the Lagtinget in terms of getting something included in the government's basis that can pave the way for a Commonwealth 2.0., says Ulrik Pram Gad, who notes, however, that it may be difficult, as Naleraq, Inuit Ataqatigiit, Javnaðarflokkurin and the Sambandspartiet see the world very differently.

– If you were to place the newly elected North Atlantic members of the Folketing on a scale from Commonwealth to independence, Anna Falkenberg is completely out in one corner, while Qarsoq Høegh-Dam is completely out in the other corner. And Sjúrður Skaale and Naaja H. Nathanielsen are not aligned in the middle either, so it may be difficult for them to reach an agreement, and we also do not know who will end up in government in Thorshavn, says Ulrik Pram Gad and adds:

– But if they can agree on some formulations - perhaps even a joint text about how they see the kingdom developing - then it may be very difficult for a future unity government not to include it in a government basis.