Greenlandic PM calls parliamentary elections in April

COPENHAGEN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Prime Minister Kim Kielsen of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, said on Monday parliamentary elections will take place next month, local media reported.

The vote for the 31-seat parliament is due on April 17 or April 24, Kielsen told a press conference.

"I have been thinking about calling elections for a long time. Now the election campaign begins. There are several advantages of calling the election now," the prime minister was quoted as saying by Greenlandic media Sermitsiaq.

Kielsen became the leader of self-governed Greenland after then Prime Minister Aleqa Hammond resigned amid a financial scandal in 2014.

In the parliamentary election late 2014, Kielsen's social democratic Siumut party won 34.3 percent of the vote and became the biggest ruling party.

Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, is sparsely inhabited with a population of around 57,000. Greenland is largely self-governed, and Denmark maintains control only over foreign affairs and defense policy.

The Danish government subsidizes the island's economy, which heavily relies on fisheries. Enditem