$20-million overrun leads to fall of Greenland government

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS SERVICE

NUUK, GREENLAND — Greenland’s fragile coalition government, formed nine months ago between the social democratic Siumut Party and the conservative Atassut Party, fell apart this week.

During recent negotiations for a new collective agreement with the SIK, Greenland’s workers’ union, the home rule government somehow miscalculated the cost of the agreement.

That means the government will have to shell out 97 million Danish kroner, or $20 million, more than expected, and Siumut Party leaders have demanded a formal investigation into the discrepancy.

Greenland’s finance minister, Augusta Salling, also the Atassut Party chairman, told reporters that she couldn’t see how she had done anything wrong during talks between the union and government.

But she accepted the breakdown of the coalition government between the Atassut Party and the Siumut Party.

“It’s good for us, it’s okay that we are going to stop working together,” Salling said. “It would be good for us to start working again for Greenlandic society.”

She said the home rule government’s cabinet had decided that she should be removed, instead of the top bureaucrat in charge of Greenland’s finances.

Meanwhile, the Siumut Party has started discussions on a possible new coalition government with Inuit Ataqatigiit, with which it tried and failed to form a government nine months ago.

Siumut is looking for support from the leftist IA to form a new government, while the conservative Atassut wants to try and form a broad coalition with left- and right-wing opposition parties.

Until those various maneuvers are completed, it won’t be clear who will run Greenland’s government.