1979 Greenlandic general election

General elections were held in Greenland on 4 April 1979,[1] the first election to the new Parliament after the introduction of home rule. The result was a victory for the separatist and left wing Siumut, which won 13 of the 21 seats in the Parliament, over the unionist and moderate Atassut.[2] The difference in seats won became relatively large because of the use of first past the post in five constituencies in northern and eastern Greenland, which were all won by Siumut, while the two parties split the 16 seats in the multi member constituencies in Western Greenland evenly. As a result of the election Jonathan Motzfeldt from Siumut became the first head of government in Greenland.

1979 Greenlandic general election
Greenland
← 1975 4 April 1979 (1979-04-04) 1983 →

All 21 seats in the Inatsisartut
11 seats needed for a majority
Turnout69.58%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
Siumut Jonathan Motzfeldt 46.12% 13 New
Atassut Lars Chemnitz 41.69% 8 New
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Governor before Prime Minister
Hans Lassen
Independent
Jonathan Motzfeldt
Siumut

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats
Siumut8,50546.1213
Atassut7,68841.698
Labour Party1,0415.640
Inuit Ataqatigiit8134.410
Independents3962.150
Total18,443100.0021
Valid votes18,44392.44
Invalid/blank votes1,5087.56
Total votes19,951100.00
Registered voters/turnout28,67269.58
Source: Election Passport, Parties & Elections

References

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  1. ^ Tom Lansford (2014) Political Handbook of the World 2014, CQ Press, p393
  2. ^ Greenland Archived 2013-07-22 at the Wayback Machine Parties and Elections