Greenland: Democrat party wins surprise victory amid spectre of Trump

The centre-right Democrat party has 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 threat to take control of it “one way or another”.None of the parties are set to win a majority of the 31 seats in parliament, so negotiations to form a coalition will be held in the coming days.“The Democrats are open to talks with all parties and are seeking unity. Especially with what is going on in the world,” said the party’s 33-year-old leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, a former badminton champion.He said he was surprised by the party’s victory. “We didn’t expect the election to have this outcome, we’re very happy.”With 90% of the vote counted, the Democratic party – which describes itself as “social liberal” and has also called for independence but in the longer term – held a 29.9% share of the vote, an insurmountable lead, Greenland’s public broadcaster KNR reported.Road to independence It is followed by the Naleraq party, which looked set to more than double its share of the vote to 24.5%.Both the Democrats and the second-place party, Naleraq, favour independence from Denmark, but they differ on the pace of change. Naleraq is the most aggressively pro-independence, while the Democrats favour a more moderate pace.“We respect the election result,” outgoing prime minister Múte Egede, who leads the left-green Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party, told KNR. The party stands at a 21.4% vote share. The leader of the Siumut party, IA’s coalition partner, conceded defeat.The future government is expected to map out a timeline for independence, which is backed by a large majority of Greenland’s 57 000 inhabitants.

Greenland: Democrat party wins surprise victory amid spectre of Trump

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-13

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Greenland: Democrat party wins surprise victory amid spectre of Trump

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-13

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