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Overwhelming win for Greenland opposition
Greenland's main opposition party won a landslide victory in a general election held just before the territory adopts greater independence from Denmark, the island's Home Rule office said on Wednesday.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:35 June 3, 2009
Copenhagen: Greenland's main opposition party won a landslide victory in a general election held just before the territory adopts greater independence from Denmark, the island's Home Rule office said on Wednesday.
The leftist Inuit Ataqatigiit (Eskimo Brotherhood) party received 43.7 per cent of votes in an early election held on Tuesday, nearly double that share it had in a 2005 vote. The ruling social democrat party, Siumut (Forward), got 26.5 per cent.
Talks on forming a new government on the sparsely populated Arctic island, four fifths of which is covered with ice but which is rich in minerals, were expected to begin yesterday.
Prime Minister Hans Enoksen had called for the vote, saying Greenland's government should have a fresh mandate ahead of June 21, when expanded home rule becomes effective.
While most politicians in the sparsely populated island want full independence from Denmark, they differ on how fast to proceed. Mikkel Lund, editor at Greenland's national broadcaster, said Inuit Ataqatigiit favours a slightly less hurried approach towards independence than Siumut.
"They want to solve the problems first," Lund said.
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