Politics of the Faroe Islands

Executive branch

The high commissioner is appointed by the Queen of Denmark. The High Commissioner has a seat in the Løgting, he or she is allowed to speak in the Løgting regarding common Danish/Faroese affairs, but he or she is not allowed to vote. Following legislative elections, the leader of the party that wins the most seats is usually given the initiative to establish a new coalition by the Faroese Parliament, unless the current Løgmaður (Prime Minister in English) is still in power. However, if he fails, the Chairman of the parliament asks all chairmen of the parties elected to the parliament, and asks them to point to another chairman who they feel can rightly form a new coalition. The chairman with the most votes is then handed the initiative. After forming the coalition, the løgmaður leads the landsstýri. The landsstýri will often consist of around 7 members. The coalition parties divide the various ministries among themselves and after this, the parties elect their representative to these ministries. Any other member of the cabinet is called a landsstýrismaður if the person is a man, or landsstýriskvinna if the person is a woman. The word ráðharri is also used for a member of the cabinet, i.e. mentamálaráðharri (minister of culture) or heilsumálaráðharri (minister of health).

Current government

Following the Faroese general election, 2015, a new government, consisting of three parties (Social Democratic Party, Republic, and Progress) under Prime Minister Aksel V. Johannesen, is formed with the Ministry of Internal Affairs re-established and a number of cabinet positions consolidated.

Legislative branch

The Faroese Parliament (Løgtingið in Faroese) has 33 MPs (members of parliament), elected for a four-year term by proportional representation.

Election of 2 seats to the Danish Parliament was last held on June 18, 2015: Social Democrats 1, Republic 1.

Political parties and elections

The Faroe Islands have a multi-party system (disputing on independence and unionism as well as left and right), with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. The Faroese Parliament (Løgting) has 33 seats. Members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. For the Løgting elections there were seven electoral districts, each one comprehending asýslur, while Streymoy is divided in a northern and southern part (Tórshavn region), but since 2008, the Faroes constitute a single district.

Administrative divisions

The islands are administratively divided into 30 municipalities with about 120 cities and villages.

Traditionally, there are also the 6 sýslur (Norðoyar, Eysturoy, Streymoy, Vágar, Sandoy and Suðuroy). Sýsla means district and although it is only a police district today, it is still commonly understood as a geographical region. In earlier times, each sýsla had its own ting, the so-called várting (spring ting).

International affairs

Along with diplomatic missions to Iceland, the Court of St. James's (United Kingdom), Russia and the European Union, the Faroe Islands participate in the Nordic Council, NIB, International Maritime Organization, International Whaling Commission (Complete list of participation of the Faroe Islands in international organisations).