Greenlandic Separatism
Dec. 3rd, 2002 09:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldGreenland confronts Canadian issues
A separatist party wants a referendum and Washington is clamouring for military access
By JEFF SALLOT
Tuesday, December 3, 2002 – Page A21
Toronto Globe and Mail
Have you heard about the separatist party that says it will hold a referendum to get a mandate to negotiate independence, or sovereignty association, or something like that?
Or how about the politicians who are all in a lather because the United States wants to use a frozen chunk of the Far North for an antiballistic missile defence system?
Reruns of Canadian politics seem to be playing out next door as Canada's Arctic neighbours in Greenland hold an election today.
The Inuit Ataqatigiit (the Inuit Brotherhood) party of Greenland, like the Parti Québécois, wants to hold a referendum on independence. The IA, which is leading in a public opinion poll, says the time is coming when Greenlanders should think about cutting ties with the monarchy. In this case it is the Kingdom of Denmark.
Like the recent arms-control and NORAD debates in Canada, the big foreign-policy issue in sparsely populated Greenland these days is whether to co-operate with the Pentagon on plans for ballistic-missile defence.
The IA, a far-left socialist party, and several of the other political parties don't care much for the idea that the giant U.S. Air Force base at Thule might be modernized and converted to a radar post for the proposed missile-defence system.
Before the election campaign, a Greenland parliamentary committee insisted that the island be an equal partner with Denmark in any renegotiation of defence treaties with Washington. The MPs said they don't want to be caught in the middle of a new cold war.
The similarities with Canadian politics are so striking that there was no surprise when a caller from Ottawa rang up the Greenland newspaper last night to get the lowdown on the election, says Claus Mokuist, a political correspondent with Ag, the leading paper in Nuuk, Greenland's capital.
"Yes, it's true. Independence from Denmark is the big local issue," Mr. Mokuist said. "We may have a separatist government like your Quebec."
If the IA makes the large gains that pollsters expect, it could mean the first change in government in 23 years and could put Greenland on the road to separation. Maybe.
In order to broaden its support, the separatist party has promised that, if elected, it will not declare independence unilaterally. Rather, it will hold a referendum on the issue before May, 2005. The referendum will not be binding, but only advisory.
And then, of course, there will be negotiations with the central government in Copenhagen to establish terms for sovereignty with economic association, which is something like what Greenland has now with a form of home rule.
The HS Analysis Institute, a Danish think tank, conducted a public opinion poll recently suggesting that the IA could take up to 30 per cent of the popular vote today.
That would put it in a position to oust the governing Siumut social democratic party by forming a coalition with one of the smaller parties.
The returns should come in early, Mr. Mokuist said. There won't be that many ballots to count. Greenland has 39,000 eligible voters. It has only 57,000 people inhabiting the largest non-continental island in the world. Greenland is larger than Ontario.
Like Nunavut, Greenland's population is overwhelmingly Inuit. Greenland's aboriginal people maintain strong ties with Canadian, Russian and Alaskan cousins through the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.
A separatist party wants a referendum and Washington is clamouring for military access
By JEFF SALLOT
Tuesday, December 3, 2002 – Page A21
Toronto Globe and Mail
Have you heard about the separatist party that says it will hold a referendum to get a mandate to negotiate independence, or sovereignty association, or something like that?
Or how about the politicians who are all in a lather because the United States wants to use a frozen chunk of the Far North for an antiballistic missile defence system?
Reruns of Canadian politics seem to be playing out next door as Canada's Arctic neighbours in Greenland hold an election today.
The Inuit Ataqatigiit (the Inuit Brotherhood) party of Greenland, like the Parti Québécois, wants to hold a referendum on independence. The IA, which is leading in a public opinion poll, says the time is coming when Greenlanders should think about cutting ties with the monarchy. In this case it is the Kingdom of Denmark.
Like the recent arms-control and NORAD debates in Canada, the big foreign-policy issue in sparsely populated Greenland these days is whether to co-operate with the Pentagon on plans for ballistic-missile defence.
The IA, a far-left socialist party, and several of the other political parties don't care much for the idea that the giant U.S. Air Force base at Thule might be modernized and converted to a radar post for the proposed missile-defence system.
Before the election campaign, a Greenland parliamentary committee insisted that the island be an equal partner with Denmark in any renegotiation of defence treaties with Washington. The MPs said they don't want to be caught in the middle of a new cold war.
The similarities with Canadian politics are so striking that there was no surprise when a caller from Ottawa rang up the Greenland newspaper last night to get the lowdown on the election, says Claus Mokuist, a political correspondent with Ag, the leading paper in Nuuk, Greenland's capital.
"Yes, it's true. Independence from Denmark is the big local issue," Mr. Mokuist said. "We may have a separatist government like your Quebec."
If the IA makes the large gains that pollsters expect, it could mean the first change in government in 23 years and could put Greenland on the road to separation. Maybe.
In order to broaden its support, the separatist party has promised that, if elected, it will not declare independence unilaterally. Rather, it will hold a referendum on the issue before May, 2005. The referendum will not be binding, but only advisory.
And then, of course, there will be negotiations with the central government in Copenhagen to establish terms for sovereignty with economic association, which is something like what Greenland has now with a form of home rule.
The HS Analysis Institute, a Danish think tank, conducted a public opinion poll recently suggesting that the IA could take up to 30 per cent of the popular vote today.
That would put it in a position to oust the governing Siumut social democratic party by forming a coalition with one of the smaller parties.
The returns should come in early, Mr. Mokuist said. There won't be that many ballots to count. Greenland has 39,000 eligible voters. It has only 57,000 people inhabiting the largest non-continental island in the world. Greenland is larger than Ontario.
Like Nunavut, Greenland's population is overwhelmingly Inuit. Greenland's aboriginal people maintain strong ties with Canadian, Russian and Alaskan cousins through the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.
