Reset on:. Since , Greenland has had its own prime minister who is able to govern at a local level. He or she has to come from the party with the most seats, which is currently the socialist Inuit Ataqatigiit party, with Mute Egede as prime minister. Pre-election polls indicated that the Ataqatigiit party would remain the strongest party.
The parliament — the Inatsisartut — has just 31 MPs who are chosen from six political parties, two of whom are in the governing coalition of the Inuit Ataqatigiit and the Simiut parties. What makes this general election unlike any other is the global spotlight on it. It is permanently covered with ice over 80 per cent of its surface and the small Inuit population live exclusively on the south-western coast around the capital, Nuuk, subsisting by fishing, hunting seals and reindeer.
Greenland won home rule from Denmark in and self-rule in This brought a new sense of national security as well as a commitment to preserve and develop all its life and culture after generations of Danish domination.
It has faced an uphill battle, though, because its economy has been based mainly on fishing and large subsidies from the Danish government which account for a fifth of its income. Because of its closeness to the arctic regions of Russia, it has always been of vital interest to the US and, while it was under Danish rule, the US was allowed to set up bases and listening stations, which are still there.
Greenland is of interest for the US not only because of its strategic importance militarily, but also because of its valuable mineral deposits. These deposits have been difficult to access beneath the icecap but with global warming that will change.
