The center-right Demokraatit Party won the most votes in Greenland’s parliamentary elections, a surprise result as the territory went to the polls in the shadow of US President Donald Trump’s stated goal of taking control of the island one way or another.
Demokraatit — the Democrats — and the second-placed party, Naleraq — “Point of Orientation” — favor independence from Denmark, but they have differences on the pace of change.
Demokraatit’s upset victory over parties that have governed the territory for years indicates that many in Greenland care just as much about healthcare, education, cultural heritage and other social policies.
Photo: Reuters
The unanticipated results came after huge crowds streamed into the polling station in the capital, Nuuk, throughout the day, warmed by sunny skies. Exhausted voting officials closed the polls well after the planned 8pm on Tuesday to make sure everyone in line got a chance to cast their ballot.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede last month called elections a bit early, saying the country needed to be united during a “serious time” that is unlike anything Greenland has ever experienced.
Trump has been outspoken about his desire to control Greenland, telling a joint session of the US Congress last week that he thought the US was going to get it “one way or the other.”
Greenland, a self-governing region of Denmark, straddles strategic air and sea routes in the North Atlantic, and has rich deposits of the rare earths needed to make everything from mobile phones to renewable energy technology.
Egede’s Inuit Ataqatigiit (United Inuit) had been widely expected to win the contest, followed by Siumut — two parties which had dominated Greenland’s politics over the past few years.
A break from Denmark was not on the ballot, but it was on everyone’s mind. The island of 56,000 people has been on a path toward independence since at least 2009, and the 31 lawmakers elected would shape the island’s future as it debates whether the time has come to declare independence.
Four of the five main parties in the race sought independence, but disagreed on when and how.
Naleraq is the most aggressively pro-independence, while Demokraatit favors a more moderate pace of change.
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