Kuupik Kleist
| Kuupik Kleist | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 5th Prime Minister of Greenland | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 12 June 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Hans Enoksen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 March 1958 Qullissat, Greenland |
| Political party | Inuit Ataqatigiit |
Jakob Edvard Kuupik Kleist (born 31 March 1958 in Qullissat) is a Socialist, Left-wing Nationalist Greenlandic politician. He became the fourth Prime Minister of Greenland in 2009, the first from the Inuit Ataqatigiit political party, and the first who doesn't belong to the hitherto dominant Siumut party.
The son of a Danish telegraphist and a Greenlandic mother, Kleist was raised by his aunt and uncle.[1][2] He attended primary school in Qullissat from 1966 until 1972 when the mining town was abandoned and then he attended lower secondary school in Sisimiut until 1975. When he was 17, he was sent to Denmark, alone and with no prior knowledge of Danish.[2] He attended the Birkerød State School in Denmark from 1975–1978. Kleist graduated from Roskilde University Centre in 1983 with a master's degree in social work (socionom). He taught journalism in Nuuk from 1988–1991.
In 1996, Kleist was appointed the Director of the Foreign Office of the Greenland Home Rule Government (Direktør for hjemmestyrets udenrigskontor). He was a Member of the Danish Parliament from 20 November 2001 to 13 November 2007, representing the Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party. IA will be the first party to govern the autonomous Danish territory under an expanded home rule agreement known as "self-rule" (selvstyre). While the self-rule agreement has been referred to a step towards eventual full independence from Denmark, Kleist's administration is expected to put "any push for independence [...] on the backburner", given his pledge to focus on social issues such as alcoholism, domestic violence and a high suicide rate.[3]
Since 2007, he has been the leader of IA, a leftist political party which works towards Greenland's eventual full autonomy from Denmark. The party received the most votes in the 2009 election. In June 2009 the Greenlandic parliament therefore elected Kleist the 4th Prime Minister of Greenland. Kleist also had a very successful election himself and won 5,461 personal votes compared to just 1,413 votes for incumbent Prime Minister Hans Enoksen.[4][5]
In late August 2009 Kleist met with Admiral Tim Sloth Jørgensen and General Walter Natynczyk, the Chief of Denmark's Defence staff and the Chief of Canada's Defence staff.[6] Jørgensen and Walter Natynczyk were conducting a tour of Danish and Canadian military bases in the Arctic.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- References
- ^ The Necessary Voice of Greenland - Information.dk. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ^ a b Thomas Borchert: "Troubled Greenland looks inward amid greater autonomy" - Deutsche Presse Agentur. Jun 18, 2009
- ^ Self-rule introduced in Greenland - BBC News. Published 21 June 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
- ^ Landsstyreformand Enoksen træder tilbage - DR Forside (Danish) - DR.dk. Published 03. jun. 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ^ IA vandt stort i Grønland - DR Forside (Danish) - DR.dk. Published 03. jun. 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ^ "The Danish Chief of Defence, Admiral Jørgensen, pays a visit to Nunavut and Greenland to plan for future defence of the region". Canadian American Strategic Review. 2009-08-20. Archived from the original on 2009-09-03. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.casr.ca%2Fdoc-news-danish-cds-visit.htm&date=2009-09-03.
- Biography
- Biography from the Danish Parliament
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hans Enoksen |
First Minister of the Local Government of Greenland 2009–present |
Incumbent |
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