Greenland set for first woman premier

2013-03-20 17:02

Aleqa Hammond from Siumut casting her vote during the general election, in Nuuk, Greenland. (Polfoto, Sermitsiaq, Leiff Josefsen/ AP)

Copenhagen - Greenland is set for its first female premier after the head of the social democrat Siumut party succeeded in putting together a coalition government following its election win in the autonomous Danish territory this month.

Siumut leader Aleqa Hammond said the party would form a government with the liberals and a small leftwing Inuit party after the 12 March election, giving the coalition 18 out of 31 seats in the assembly.

"We will be continuing our negotiations as we agree on several central elements: The introduction of royalties on raw materials, fisheries, lifting zero tolerance on uranium and introducing the Greenland language as the most important language in the country," Hammond said at a press conference.

However, the makeup of the government and the division of ministries between the three parties has not yet been fixed, and the Sermitsiaq newspaper said the official coalition accord would be signed on Friday.

Siumit, which is looking for independence from Denmark, took almost 43% of the vote after a campaign vowing to tax foreign companies tapping the island's vast mineral wealth.

Denmark currently provides €429m a year in subsidies to Greenland under an autonomy agreement that gives the country full control of its natural resources, while Denmark maintains control of foreign policy and defence.

- AFP