General elections were held in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

on 1 September 2015.

Elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

for the Danish Folketing were held beforehand on 18 June.

Background

On 4 August 2015 the

Løgting The Løgting (pronounced ; ) is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory within the Danish Realm. The name literally means "''Law Thing''"—that is, a law assembly—and derives from Old Norse ''lǫgþing ...

passed a motion that criticized Prime Minister

Kaj Leo Johannesen Kaj Leo Holm Johannesen (born 28 August 1964 in Tórshavn) is a Faroese politician. He was the prime minister of the Faroe Islands, representing the Faroese Unionist Party ( Sambandsflokkurin). He took office, succeeding Jóannes Eidesgaard on ...

and former Minister of the Interior

Kári P. Højgaard Kári Páll Højgaard (born 21 July 1951 in Strendur, Faroe Islands) is a Faroese politician. He was chairman of the Self-Government Party (Sjálvstýrisflokkurin) until April 2015 and is a former president of the West Nordic Council (2008–09) ...

, accusing Johannesen of lying to the Løgting in connection with a 1 million kroner break fee clause in the contract led by the

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S ("CIP") is a Danish investment firm specializing in infrastructure investments, particularly wind power. CIP is one of the world's largest dedicated renewables investment firms with €32 billion raised and ...

to build a sub-sea tunnel between

Eysturoy Eysturoy (, meaning 'East Island') is a region and the second-largest of the Faroe Islands, both in size and population. Description Eysturoy is separated by a narrow sound from the main island of Streymoy. Eysturoy is extremely rugged, with som ...

and

Streymoy Streymoy (, ) is the largest and most populated island of the Faroe Islands. The capital, Tórshavn, is located on its southeast coast. The name means "island of currents". It also refers to the largest region of the country that also includes the ...

. Although Kaj Leo Johannesen had previously told the Løgting that he had no part of the break fee, a judicial inquiry led by Hans Gammeltoft-Hansen (the Danish

ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

from 1987 until 2012) confirmed in June 2015 that Kaj Leo Johannesen had knowingly misled the Løgting on several occasions, thereby breaking the law. For some time not much happened, the Prime Minister refused to take any action but went on holiday for a month. The speaker of the Løgting refused to assemble parliament, which had no scheduled meeting before 29 July 2015. On 29 July Kaj Leo Johannesen gave his annual

Ólavsøka Ólavsøka () is the biggest summer festival in the Faroe Islands, and by most Faroese considered as the national holiday of the Faroes along with Flag Day on 25 April. Ólavsøka is celebrated over two days, from the 28th to the 29th of July, ...

speech to the Løgting, ending it by calling general elections. A week later on 4 August, the Løgting assembled to discuss the Johannesen's speech, as the law requires. All 33 members of the Løgting voted yes, including Højgaard.

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

and Progress then demanded a vote of no confidence in Kaj Leo Johannesen, in which 14 MPs voted for the motion, 9 against it and 10 cast blank votes, short of the majority of 17 required to pass the motion. Only 9 of 20 MPs from Kaj Leo Johannesen's coalition chose to back him and voted against the motion, including six from his own party, the

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

Jógvan á Lakjuni Jógvan á Lakjuni (born 13 November 1952) is a Faroese politician, composer and teacher. He was speaker of the Faroese parliament, the Løgting, from 2011 to 2015 and from 2019 to 2022. He was born in Fuglafjørður. He worked as a fisherman fro ...

from the People's Party and the two MPs from the Centre Party. However, three Union Party MPs cast blank votes, including Deputy Chairman

Bárður Nielsen Bárður () or Bardur is a Nordic masculine given name that derives from the Old Norse name Bárðr . It may refer to * Bárður Eyþórsson, Icelandic basketball coach * Bárður Háberg (born 1979), Faroese musician, songwriter and composer * B ...

, whilst People's Party chairman

Jákup Mikkelsen Jákup Nolsøe Mikkelsen (born 14 August 1970) is a Faroese former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made 522 league appearances in representing six clubs in a career spanning 25 years, also representing his country at international lev ...

voted for the motion. Kaj Leo Johannesen maintains that he did not lie, but only gave incorrect information to the Løgting.

Electoral system

The 33 members of the

were elected by

open list Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a Political party, party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, in which party lists ...

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

in a single nationwide constituency with an electoral threshold of of votes (~3.03%). Seats were allocated using the

d'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is an apportionment method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in proportional representation among political parties. It belongs to ...

Opinion polls

The ruling centre-right coalition led by Johannesen was consistently behind in the polls, while the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

led by Aksel Johannesen were well ahead. However, polls closer to election day showed a tightening race.

Vote

Seats

Results

The opposition parties made a major comeback from the 2011 elections, with the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

and

gaining two and one seats respectively.

Progress Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...

regained its second seat, which it lost in 2011 when

Janus Rein In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion and Roman mythology, myth, Janus ( ; ) is the List of Roman deities, god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as ...

left the party. Despite a small reduction in their vote share,

New Self-Government New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

gained one seat. Of the 117 void votes, 76 were blank and 41 invalid.Løgtingsval 1. september 2015
KVF

By region and polling district

There were 58 polling districts (down from 60 in 2011), of which 56 were towns and two (Giljanes and Fossanes) were schools. Giljanes was one of the two polling places on the western island of

Vágar Vágar (; ) is one of the 18 islands in the archipelago of the Faroe Islands and the most westerly of the ''large islands''. With a size of , it ranks third in size, behind Streymoy and Eysturoy. Vágar Regions of the Faroe Islands, region also ...

, while Fossanes is located on the

Norðoyar The six islands in the northeast of the Faroe Islands are together referred to as Norðoyar, i.e. the Northern Isles (). These Islands from west to east are Kalsoy, Kunoy, Borðoy, Viðoy, Svínoy and Fugloy. Klaksvík Klaksvík () is the s ...

. There were two polling places in the capital area;

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; ; Danish language, Danish: ''Thorshavn''), usually locally referred to as simply Havn, is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of th ...

, which includes the suburbs of

Hvítanes Hvítanes () is a village in the Faroe Islands. It is on Streymoy's east coast, northeast of Hoyvík and Tórshavn. Its name means "White Point" in Faroese. Hvítanes is located in a little bay with a stone beach and a harbour where the small b ...

and

Hoyvík Hoyvík ( Danish: ''Højvig'') is a town in the Faroe Islands. It is part of the Tórshavn Municipality, and de facto is merged as a northern suburb of Tórshavn, the Faroese capital. History Hoyvík is believed to be a very old settlement. A ...

, and the southern suburb

Argir Argir () is a village in the Faroe Islands. Argir most likely takes its name from Old Irish ''airge,'' which means ''summer pasture''.; several placenames in Faroe carry the same name with this meaning. Once a village south of Tórshavn, Argir h ...

. The Vágar region includes the neighbouring island Mykines and the

Sandoy Sandoy ("Sand Island") is the first of the five southern islands that make up the Faroe chain, the fifth biggest of all the Faroe Islands, an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark. It also refers to the Regions of the Faroe Islands, region ...

region includes

Skúvoy Skúgvoy ( or Skúvoy , ) is an island in the central Faroe Islands, located to the south of Sandoy. It is named after the large number of great skua present on the island (who have a habit of attacking intruders). There is only one settlement ...

, while the rest of

includes the polling places on the islets

Nólsoy Nólsoy (, previously also ''Nölsoy''; ; ) is an island and village in central Faroe Islands, 4km east of the capital Tórshavn in Streymoy. Description Nólsoy is the lowest of the Faroes; the highest point is Eggjarklettur (372 m) on the moun ...

and

Hestur Hestur () is an island in the central Faroe Islands, to the west of Streymoy and the south of Koltur. ''Hestur'' means ''horse'' in Faroese. On the west coast is a guillemot colony. In the north there is moorland with four small lakes, of which F ...

References

{{Faroese elections Elections in the Faroe Islands

Faroes The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

2015 in the Faroe Islands September 2015 in Europe