Aleqa Hammond

Aleqa Hammond (born 23 September 1965) is a Greenlandic politician and former member of the Danish Folketing (parliament). Formerly the leader of the Siumut party, she became Greenland's first female Prime Minister after her party emerged as the largest parliamentary faction in the 2013 elections.[1] In 2014 she stepped down as Prime Minister and leader of Siumut, following a case of misuse of public funds. She was expelled from Siumut on 23 August 2016 after yet another case of misuse of public funds and became an independent.[2] On 31 March 2018 she announced that she would be running in the 2018 Greenlandic parliamentary election for the Siumut breakaway Nunatta Qitornai.[3]

Aleqa Hammond
5th Prime Minister of Greenland
In office 5 April 2013 – 30 September 2014
Monarch	Margrethe II
Deputy	Doris Jakobsen
Preceded by	Kuupik Kleist
Succeeded by	Kim Kielsen (acting)
Leader of Siumut
In office 2 June 2009 – 17 October 2014
Deputy	Hans Enoksen
Preceded by	Hans Enoksen
Succeeded by	Kim Kielsen
Member of the Danish Parliament for Siumut
In office 18 June 2015 – 5. June 2019
Preceded by	Doris Jakobsen
Personal details
Born	23 September 1965 Narsaq, Greenland, Kingdom of Denmark
Citizenship	Kingdom of Denmark
Nationality	Greenlandic
Political party	none (Independent politician)
Alma mater	HF at Avannaani Ilunniarnertuunngorniarfik
Website	Official Facebook

Early life

Born in Narsaq, Hammond grew up in Uummannaq.[4] Her father Piitaaraq Johansen died on a hunting trip when she was seven after falling through the ice.[5] She attended Nunavut Arctic College in Iqaluit between 1989 and 1991, before studying at the University of Greenland from 1991 until 1993.[4] Her studies were never completed.

In 1993, she began working for Greenland Tourism as a Regional Co-ordinator in Disko Bay. In 1994, she used a hotel room and knowingly supplied a credit card which had been blocked (from prior abuse) to cover the kr 5,000 bill, and she was convicted of fraud in 1996.[6] In 1995, she became the Information Officer in the Cabinet secretariat, before working for Nuuk Tourism from 1996 until 1999. Between 1999 and 2003, she was commissioner of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, and also worked on the 2002 Arctic Winter Games. From 2004 to 2005 she worked in the tourism industry in Qaqortoq as a tourist guide.[4]

Political career

She was first elected to the Parliament of Greenland in November 2005,[7] and was appointed Minister for Families and Justice.[8] In 2007, she became Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs, but resigned in 2008 officially in protest of the size of the government's budget deficit.[5]

After Siumut lost the 2009 elections, she replaced Hans Enoksen as party leader. In the 2013 elections, she received the highest-ever number of personal votes.[9] As Prime Minister she expressed her hope to experience Greenland becoming an independent country. She said: "We are talking about building a nation on a mental level. We will stand up as a people and demand what is rightfully ours. We will take responsibility for ourselves and for our families. And as politicians we will take responsibility for our country".[10] On October 1, 2014, Hammond took leave of absence because she was being investigated for an expense scandal,[11] and Kim Kielsen became Acting Prime Minister, and also succeeded her as leader of the Siumut party. Kielsen later permanently replaced her.

In 2015 Hammond was elected to the Danish Folketing in the general elections. With 3,745 votes, she gained the highest number of personal votes in Greenland.[12] She was expelled from Siumut on 23. August 2016 following a case of abuse of her Folketing credit card for private expenses and became an independent. In 2017 she became chairman of the Greenland Committee following an agreement to support the centre-right government. On 31. March she announced her candidacy for the Greenlandic parliament for Siumut breakaway Nunatta Quitornai.

Religion

She is a member of the New Apostolic Church.[8]

References

1. Mining proponents win Greenland election AP, 13 March 2013
2. https://knr.gl/da/nyheder/aleqa-hammond-er-ekskluderet-fra-siumut
3. http://sermitsiaq.ag/aleqa-opstiller-nunatta-qitornai
4. Aleqa Hammond Archived 2013-04-12 at Archive.today Siumut (in Danish)
5. Beyond the ice The Guardian, 11 December 2008
6. Hyltoft, Vibe; Bent Højgaard Sørensen (25 October 2013). "Grønlands regeringschef tav om gammel dom for bedrageri". Retrieved 15 November 2013.
7. Greenland vote likely headed for a squeaker this March 12 Nunatsiaq Online, 11 March 2013
8. Aleqa Hammond is the new Minister for Family and Justice in Greenland New Apostolic Church, 22 December 2005
9. Greenlanders vote for change Archived 2013-03-14 at the Wayback Machine Copenhagen Post, 13 March 2013
10. "Greenland's Aleqa Hammond inspired by Nelson Mandela". Nordic Labour Journal. 13 April 2013.
11. http://www.thelocal.dk/20141001/greenland-government-in-tatters-over-expenses-scandal
12. Result of the Danish general election 2015 in Greenland Archived 2015-06-21 at the Wayback Machine Qinersineq

External links

• Aleqa Hammond on Facebook