The
parliament of Greenland achieved its independent identity with the independence of Greenland from Denmark. The name given to the parliament is
Landsting and it holds the central power of the political administration of the country. After a long period of domination under the Danish reign Greenland attained full
self government in 1981 and the parliament of Greenland was established as the pivot of the political organization with the Danish monarch as the nominal head.
The parliament is elected for a four year term. Sometimes the elections may be held earlier than the completion of its term. Greenland parliament has a
presidential form of government made up of four members of the parliament and the chairman. Meetings in the parliament are presided over by the chairman. These meetings are held in spring and in autumn. The chairman also ensures that the transcripts of the parliamentary meetings are printed in both Greenlandic and Danish. The day to day
administration is in charge of the Greenland Parliament bureau.
The
standing committees functioning under the parliament are:
- The Greenland Parliament Finance Committee
- Committees for the auditing of Treasury accounts
- The Foreign and Security Policy Committee
These standing committees are statutory under the
Act adopted by the parliament of Greenland on the Greenland parliament and government. Each standing committee consists of five members of the parliament who should not be members of the Greenland government. Two members from the Government of Denmark act as supervisors of Foreign and Security Policy Committee.
Along with the statutory committees other committees have also been established by the Parliament of Greenland. Some of these are:
- The Trade and Industry Committee
- The Culture and Education Committee
- The Alcohol Policy Committee
The last parliament
election was held on November 15, 2005. The parties which hold seats in the Parliament are Atassut (8 seats), Akulliit Partiiat (2 seats) and Issittup Partiia (1 seat).
