Naleraq and Siumut believe that it was undemocratic that the National Treasury’s accounts for 2025 were approved before all parties had spoken.
There was drama in the hall, when Inatsisartut on Thursday 5 November had to second consider the National Treasury’s accounts for 2025.
After three motions of no confidence from the opposition, which Demokraatit, IA, Atassut and a non-member averted, the coalition chose to vote before all parties had had the opportunity to make their rapporteur’s submissions.
It arouses wonder and criticism from the opposition.
– Firstly, I was shocked at how the meeting was conducted. Not even the coalition party Atassut spoke, and in any case I know that they would have been very critical of Landskassen’s accounts, says chairman of Siumut, Aleqa Hammond, to Sermitsiaq.
She believes that it was a breach of Inatsisartut’s rules of procedure that the presidency of Inatsisartut did not intervene and ensure that the meeting proceeded democratically and business-wise correctly.
New lows
The meeting did not end until 19:00, which is much later than the normal meeting days in Inatsisartut.
Aleqa Hammond is surprised that the treatment was not stopped and that the point was sent back to the committee – as Atassut had also suggested.
– So these are the things I think were shocking and new lows in the treatment of such an important subject.
– You are down to scratch when it comes to quality and work on the part of Naalakkersuisut. And the fact that they agreed to it from their parliamentary background is under all criticism, says Aleqa Hammond.
She believes that it sends a signal that there is internal division in the coalition when they do not let everyone have their say.
Siumut himself stood for one of the motions of no confidence against naalakkersuisoq for education, culture, sports and church, Nivi Olsen (D), because Naalakkersuisut was aware that in 2025 KNQK had used part of its grant for purposes other than those stated in the approved budget.
– It is simply too poor quality on behalf of the population that you deliver an account that has not followed all the regulations as it should, and that you have no intention of sending it back for committee consideration. And you see through the fingers with the mistakes that are pointed out, and it is not a responsible Naalakkersuisut overall, says Aleqa Hammond.
Shuts down the democratic debate
At the other opposition party, Naleraq, there is also confusion over the decision to vote before all rapporteurs had had time to make their submissions.
– I am very surprised that you were so interested in shutting down the democratic debate that you went straight to something as drastic as saying that we no longer want to discuss the accounts of the land damage, where there were a lot of irregularities, which, among other things, was also the reason for distrust in Nivi Olsen and the entire Naalakkersuisut, says chairman Pele Broberg.
Naleraq made two motions of no confidence during yesterday’s debate. However, Pele Broberg does not believe that it played a role in the fact that the debate ended up being so long.
– If you go in and look at how long the coalition parties spent voting on whether they wanted to save a naalakkersuisoq who has broken the law, they spent quite a long time on it. So it was not the antitrust agenda itself that was decisive.
One of the meeting breaks lasted two hours.
On Friday, Inatsisartut debates the Finance Act for 2027 for the second time, and that debate will undeniably be influenced by yesterday’s meeting, Naleraq believes.
– Yesterday, the coalition parties were shown that legislation is, as it were, irrelevant to whether they intend to comply with it. That is to say: When we make the Finance Act, what is the significance of it, if not that they need to follow it?
Atassut has complained to the presidency that they were not allowed to make their report before the vote. 14 voted in favor, seven voted neither for nor against, and Atassut left the room before the vote.
Sermitsiaq has tried to get a comment from IA and Demokraatit about Thursday’s meeting, but they have not returned before the deadline.
The chairman of Inatsisartut, Kim Kielsen (Løsgänger), has explained to Sermitsiaq that the coalition parties Demokraatit, Inuit Ataqatigiit and Atassut had proposed that the vote should take place immediately after the last meeting agenda.
