June 19, 2009
Article from:
The Australian
AFTER almost 300 years under Danish rule, the Arctic island of Greenland is set on Sunday to wrest control of its vast natural resources from Copenhagen.
Just over 75 per cent of Greenlanders voted to take back more powers from Copenhagen in a referendum last November after years of negotiations.Greenland's new self-rule status takes effect on Sunday - the island's national holiday - some three centuries after the first Danish ships landed.
Denmark granted Greenland limited sovereignty when its parliament approved home rule in 1979, but this new deal gives the island of 57,000 inhabitants more control over its natural resources such as oil, gas, gold and diamonds.
US scientists believe the island's northern tip is especially rich in oil and gas and they say global warming could actually help Greenland unlock this untapped wealth and provide a solid foundation for the economy.
If it proves to be “sufficiently large to prop up the island's economy”, Greenland will be well on the road to full independence from Denmark, said Lars Hovbakke Soerensen, a historian at the University of Aarhus and an expert on Greenlandic politics.
Greenland, which holds 10 per cent of the world's freshwater reserves, is one of the areas most under threat from global warming, which in turn will affect its lucrative fishing industry.
That will force political leaders to look underground in a bid to diversify the economy and cut back its reliance on its former colonial master for funding.
Under the self-rule agreement, Greenlanders will be recognised as a distinct people with the right to self-determination and Greenlandic will become the territory's official language.
“Greenlanders wish with all their heart to become independent one day and we can do it,” said Lars-Emil Johansen, a member of the social democratic Siumut (Forward) party, who served as the head of the island's local government from 1991 to 1997.
But Siumut, which has been a long-time advocate of greater autonomy from Denmark, is no longer the political force it once was.
In June's general election, the party was ousted from power after 30 years amid allegations of misuse of public funds and corruption.
Spurred on by the island's deepening social and economic problems, voters rebelled against Siumut, putting the extreme-left Inuit Ataqatigiit (Community of the People) party into power with some 44 per cent of votes.
“They thought it was the only option to resolve the island's problems,” said Soerensen.
Greenland is rife with social problems, such as alcoholism, and one in three children is a victim of domestic violence and has bad living conditions.
Hospital waiting lists are lengthy and the gap is growing between the rich and the poor.
Inuit Ataqatigiit, which wants complete independence from its former colonial rulers, is led by 51-year-old intellectual Kuupik Kleist.
He wants to create “a new society for a new era” by narrowing the gap between the rich and poor and improving public services.
Kleist has formed a coalition with two centrist parties, the Demokratiit (Democrats) and the Kattusseqatigiit Partiiat (Candidate List Party).
The coalition partners hold a total of 19 seats in the 31-seat Landsting, Greenland's local parliament.
Independence remains Inuit Ataqatigiit's “primary objective” but will not be top of its agenda in the short-term, Soerensen explained.
First off, Kuupik Kleist “has to tackle the islanders' social and education problems in an economy that depends to 50 percent on annual subsidies from Denmark,” he said.
“Only when those issues have been resolved will the party take up the cause of independence,” Soerensen added.
