The Democrats ( ; , D) is a
social liberal
Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
. Historically a unionist party, the Democrats have traditionally been sceptical of
Greenlandic independence and even further
self-governance
Self-governance, self-government, self-sovereignty or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority (sociology), authority. It may refer to pers ...
. The party's position has in the past few years shifted to remaining within the
Danish Realm
The Danish Realm, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply Denmark, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united by the Constitution of Denmark, Constitutional Act, which applies to the entire territor ...
for the foreseeable future, with
independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
as the end goal of a gradual process that starts with increased self-determination. Two of the major priorities in its programme are improving educational standards and the housing situation.
History
Established in 2002, the party won five seats in the
elections that year. It increased its seat total to seven in the
2005 elections, but was excluded from power by a so-called "Northern Lights Coalition" of
Siumut,
Inuit Ataqatigiit and
Atassut.
Its number of seats decreased to four in the
2009 elections; however, it entered a government coalition with Inuit Ataqatigiit and the
Association of Candidates, removing the formerly dominant Siumut from power for the first time in its history.
In the
2013 elections, the party won only two seats, but gained two more seats at the
2014 elections. In the
2018 elections, the party gained an additional two seats. It shrank to three in the
2021 elections. The party had its best election results in the
2025 elections, when it became Greenland's largest party for the first time.
The party supports a more gradual process of gaining independence from Denmark compared to
Naleraq,
Inuit Ataqatigiit and
Siumut, not wanting to pursue full independence until Greenland is
self sufficient.
Election results
Inatsisartut
Folketing
References
External links
Official website
{{Danish political parties
Greenlandic unionism
Political parties in Greenland
Liberal parties in Greenland
Social liberal parties
Political parties established in 2002