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Opposition in Denmark's Faroe Islands wins local parliamentary election

Xinhua, September 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Opposition coalition in Denmark's autonomous territory Faroe Islands beat the incumbent center-right government in the 2015 parliamentary election, official data showed early Wednesday.

With all votes counted for the election held on Tuesday, opposition social democratic Javnadarflokkurin party, headed by Aksel V. Johannesen, became the biggest single party of Faroe Islands with eight seats.

Together with the Republican Party and the newly formed Progress Party, the opposition coalition garnered 17 seats, ensuring a majority in the 33-member Faroese Parliament.

The opposition leader was the top scorer in the election with 2,405 individual votes, while incumbent Prime Minister Kaj Leo Johannesen only harvested 603 individual votes.

The ruling Union Party led by the prime minister and the People's Party lost two seats each, ending up with a total of 12 seats.

The prime minister has long been under political pressure after being accused of lying to the Faroese Parliament in connection with a contract on the construction of an undersea tunnel.

The economy of Faroe Islands heavily relies on fisheries, which account for 97 percent of its exports, and the election campaign has focused on whether to raise taxes on fishing firms.

The opposition, who has criticised the government for cutting taxes for high income earners, favors raising more tax revenue by auctioning fishing quotas and taxing fish farming.

The issue of same-sex marriage also dominated the election campaign, and a recent poll showed that 64 percent of Faroe Islanders supported civil unions of gay people.

Faroe Islands, comprising 18 islands in the Atlantic Ocean, have some 49,000 inhabitants. The archipelago enjoys extensive autonomy, but Denmark maintains control over its foreign and defence affairs.

The Danish government subsidizes Faroe Islands' economy with around 650 million kroner (about 98.5 million U.S. dollars) a year. Endi