Today, the Inatsisartut has approved a new Greenland Government, which in addition to four new members, includes a reshuffle among existing members and a new distribution of areas of responsibility.
Shortly after the approval, the chairman of the Greenland Government, Jens-Frederik Nielsen (D), will be giving an interview to members of the press. Here, he is asked what his general thoughts are about the new composition of the Greenland Government:
- I am confident. We all have very broad and exciting competencies. We come from different places, and the new group that has come in is a group of four, they are bursting with energy and ready to take on their task.
- We are facing perhaps the biggest task in history if we look at foreign policy, but we are also facing huge tasks in domestic policy that we would like to undertake, he says.
Múte B. Egede takes over for Vivian Motzfeldt
One of the big questions up until today was who would take over responsibility for foreign affairs after Vivian Motzfeldt (independent). It ended with Múte B. Egede (IA), who will also be given industry and raw materials. He previously served as Minister of Finance and Taxes.
- Múte is a politician with a lot of experience and has undertaken a great deal of responsibility before. Múte is also a politician who has served as Chairman of the Government of Greenland in a situation where the US first started talking about wanting our country and having an interest in our country. So I think it is completely appropriate, and he is ready to shoulder the enormous responsibility together with the rest of us in Naalakkersuisut, says Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
He acknowledges the good work that Vivian Motzfeldt has done during her time as Naalakkersuisut, and believes that Naalakkersuisut has a great responsibility not only to the population, but also to the world community:
- Because this situation is not just about us. It is also about whether the world respects democracy, international law and so on. We are a big piece of that puzzle, and we intend to shoulder that responsibility.
Great confidence in new members
Several areas of responsibility that used to fall under one Naalakkersuisut have now been split. Among other things, children and young people are split from families, and business and raw materials are split from equality and the justice sector.
When asked what the background is for this, Jens-Frederik Nielsen replies:
- We have chosen this because the first year of this government has of course provided some experience on how and how the work can be carried out best and most efficiently as Naalakkersuisoq. And that is why we have made the distribution that we have.
- And I am very, very confident. I think it will be a flexible way of working, and I think that the way we have distributed the departments, they fit together very well, also in the daily work that we have seen going on over the last year.
Among the new members of Naalakkersuisut are several who have not previously served as Naalakkersuisoq. However, Jens-Frederik Nielsen has full confidence that they are ready for the task.
- Yes, they are 100 percent ready to take on that task. It is a big responsibility to be Naalakkersuisoq. But they have the courage and energy to shoulder that responsibility, and I firmly believe in trusting the competencies that they bring to the table when they have to shoulder the big task.
