Centre-right Demokraatit Party comes out on top in Greenland elections

Greenland’s pro-independence, centre-right Demokraatit Party won the most votes with almost 30% in Tuesday’s parliamentary elections in a surprise result as the island went to the polls amidst Donald Trump’s threats of taking over.

It was followed by the Naleraq party, which won around 25%.

The Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party came in third with over 21%, whilst the left-wing Siumut party came in fourth place with nearly 15% of the vote.

Demokraatit’s upset victory over parties that have governed the territory for years indicates that many in Greenland deva just as much about healthcare, education, cultural heritage and other social policies.

Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede in February called elections early, saying the country needed to be united during a “serious time” that is unlike anything Greenland has ever experienced.

US president Donald Trump has been outspoken about his desire to control Greenland, telling a joint session of 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 earth minerals 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 in recent years.

The island of 56,000 people has been on a path toward independence since at least 2009, and the 31 lawmakers elected will 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 favours a more moderate pace of change.

“What approach to independence will win the day will ultimately depend on if Demokraatit decides to form a coalition government, and if so, with which party,” said Dwayne Menezes, managing director of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative.