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

← 1975 4 April 1979 (1979-04-04) 1983 →
All 21 seats in the Inatsisartut 11 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	69.58%
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

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Siumut	8,505	46.12	13
	Atassut	7,688	41.69	8
	Labour Party	1,041	5.64	0
	Inuit Ataqatigiit	813	4.41	0
	Independents	396	2.15	0
Total		18,443	100.00	21
Valid votes		18,443	92.44
Invalid/blank votes		1,508	7.56
Total votes		19,951	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		28,672	69.58
Source: Election Passport, Parties & Elections

References

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