A slim majority of people in Greenland think that the democratic process functions well, even as they are increasingly losing faith in the ability of individual lawmakers to act in the nation’s best interest, a new survey finds, prompting calls for greater public involvement and more insight into the political process.

“People feel that corruption is a problem. This is something we need to take seriously. We need to stay focused on the risk of corruption in the public as well as the private sector,” Transparency International Greenland concluded in its contribution to the 2020 Global Corruption Barometer, a widely recognized measure of public views on corruption.

The survey, the results of which were published last week, was the second time Transparency International’s Greenland chapter has interviewed people about their perceptions of corruption amongst lawmakers, civil servants and private-sector firms.

Arctic Today

Sky-high cost of cars and fuel. Party money that goes to private consumption and fraud with fishing quotas.

The scandals in Greenlandic politics are many, and the population believes that the country’s politicians are increasingly abusing their power.

This is the conclusion of a new study conducted by Transparency International’s department in Greenland, which has just been published.

As many as 60 percent of the respondents answer that the abuse of power among politicians and civil servants has increased in the past year, and that abuse of power is generally a major problem in the political system.

The survey is based on a so-called Global Corruption Barometer, which is a tool to clarify the public’s perception of corruption and abuse of power.

Kristeligt Dagblad

Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world.

According to the President of Transparency International Denmark this is among other things because the Danish society is built on a high level of trust.

Integrity in politics is key to fighting against corruption and here Denmark takes the lead once again. The higher rank is wastly due to Denmarks high degree of press freedom, access to information about public expenditure, stronger standards of integrity for public officials, and independent judicial systems.

Study in Denmark

We have seen a number of examples of corrupt Eskimo politicians in the last decade or two, similar to non-White politicians in Copenhagen.

Examples:

Jonathan Jakob Jørgen Otto Motzfeldt (25 September 1938 – 28 October 2010) was a Greenlandicpriest and politician. He is considered one of the leading figures in the establishment of Greenland Home Rule. Jonathan Motzfeldt was the first prime minister of Greenland. He was Greenland’s prime minister from 1979 until 1991 and again from 1997 until 2002. He was Greenland’s longest serving prime minister and won the most elections of any prime minister of Greenland. He is considered a centre-left politician and Greenland became a recognized country during his tenure.

Mr. Motzfeldt resigned as speaker of Greenland’s Parliament on 18 January 2008 amid allegations that he had groped a female civil servant who reported him to the police. Motzfeldt denied wrongdoing. The case was subsequently dropped, without charges. Fellow party member Ruth Heilmann became his successor as speaker of the parliament.

In the spring 2009 Motzfeldt was hit by a major scandal involving the abuse of public funds for private purposes. The newspaper AG documented that up to 2008 he had let the government pay for private dinners. Also, it was the public purse that paid when the former Prime Minister consumed large amounts of alcohol. The scandal culminated when he briefly before parliamentary elections in June 2009 was denied boarding a helicopter in Qaqortoq due to intoxication. He was not re-elected in the parliamentary elections on 2 June 2009.

Read more at Wikipedia

Anna Mee Allerslev was born in South Korea in a small town outside Seoul and lived there until she was adopted by her Danish “parents” at the age of three months.

Anna me Allerslev (born July 10, 1984 in South Korea) was mayor of the Employment and Integration Administration of the City of Copenhagen for Radikale Venstre from January 1, 2011 to October 31, 2017. After prolonged criticism in the press that she had abused her office for her own benefit, she announced on 25 October 2017 that she would be retiring from politics.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman investigated the cases and concluded that Anna me Allerslev, in violation of the rules on impartiality, had been provided with a room free of charge by the company Øens Murerfirma, which performs tasks for the City of Copenhagen, after which Anna me Allerslev had then helped to award the company a business award. The Ombudsman also assessed the company’s renovation of Anna me Allerslev’s private apartment, but found that it had not been possible to get to the bottom of this matter, so the Ombudsman did not conclude anything about the case.

On September 12, 2017, B.T. wrote that Anna me Allerslev had borrowed Copenhagen City Hall’s hall at the main entrance to the reception for her wedding, thereby saving DKK 65,000, which it normally cost to rent the town hall for a day event. This was contrary to guidelines for the use of city hall premises by the citizens’ representatives, adopted by the Finance Committee of the City of Copenhagen.

Read more at Wikipedia