San Francisco Frontiers - Greenland to get new government to lead independence process

Tuesday's vote in the self-governing Danish territory came against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's threats to take over the resource-rich Arctic island, which have shined an unprecedented global spotlight on Greenlandic politics.

All of the territory's main political 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, a "social liberal" party, unexpectedly tripled its 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.

Until now, they have dominated politics on the island since it was granted home rule in 1979.

- Setting a timetable -

As none of the parties won a majority of the 31 seats in parliament, Wednesday's negotiations are expected to be about forming a ruling coalition.

If the Democrats "choose to form a government with Naleraq, they would have to speed up their platform on independence and state formation", a specialist in the region 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, an Arctic expert 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.

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

The US president has insisted the US will get Greenland "one way or the other", refusing to rule out the use of force and invoking US national security amid 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.

The territory 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 US, which could provide much-needed investments.

- Call for unity -

Since 2009, a law has enabled Greenland 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.Hill--SFF