General elections were held in Greenland on 12 March 2013.Mining question dominates Greenland poll BBC News, 12 March 2013 The opposition Siumut party emerged as the largest in Parliament, winning 14 of the 31 seats.Mining proponents win Greenland election AP, 13 March 2013 On 26 March Siumut leader Aleqa Hammond became Greenland's first female Prime Minister.
Electoral system The 31 members of Parliament were elected by proportional representation in multi-member constituencies.Election Profile IFES In Nuuk there was just one polling station.
Campaign The main campaign issue was exploitation of the island's mineral wealth. The ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit party supported allowing foreign workers, most of whom would be Chinese, into the country to work in the mining industry, whilst the Siumut party was opposed to the proposal. Rare-earth elements were of particular concern.Greenland Votes to Get Tough on Investors; New Ruling Party Campaigned to Backtrack on Country's Recent Opening to Investment From Foreign Mining Ventures, March 13, 2013, Wall Street Journal.
Results
Government formation Following the election results, Siumut leader Aleqa Hammond claimed that she was "in no hurry to form a coalition" and would wait to hear the demands of the other parties.Greenland votes for change Nunatsiaq Online, 13 March 2013 Hammond ultimately formed a government with Atassut and the Inuit Party. Siumut took six of the eight cabinet posts, with Atassut taking the Health and Infrastructure portfolio and the Inuit Party taking the Environment portfolio.
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