Greenlanders at the polls on April 6

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The Parliament of Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory on the borders of the North Atlantic, set Tuesday evening for April 6 as the date of the early parliamentary elections, the epilogue of the political crisis that the largest island in the world has crossed.

The law on the organization of the new ballot was adopted unanimously by the 27 deputies present, out of the 31 in the Inatsisartut, the local parliament.

It marks the end of the government of Kim Kielsen, of the Social Democratic Party Siumut, at the head of the country since December 2014.

The opening in early February of public consultations on the Kvanefjeld rare earth and uranium deposit –Kuannersuit in Greenlandic– in the far south sparked a political crisis that brought down the government and deprived it of his majority in Inatsisartut.

Initially favorable to the operating project which would represent a tax windfall, Siumut has adopted a more reserved line since November and the election at its head of Erik Jensen in place of Kim Kielsen, who until now remained chief of the government.

In April 2018, this party, which has dominated Greenlandic political life since 1979, had won a narrow victory in the legislative elections beating Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), a left-green formation, now given the winner by the polls, with 13 out of the 31 seats in Parliament. .

IA is opposed to any uranium mining. This new electoral deadline could therefore delay the decision-making process on the Kvanefjeld mine and ultimately bury it.

Greenland has independence in its sights but this emancipation from Denmark – to which Copenhagen is not opposed – would deprive the territory of generous Danish subsidies, some 526 million euros per year, which constitutes a third of its budget.

The diversification of its economy, which is based mainly on fishing, a sector representing 90% of Greenlandic exports, will be a central theme of the campaign, alongside health and social issues.