Copenhagen/Nuuk, Greenland - The leftist Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) has won a landslide victory in elections for the self-rule parliament in Greenland, according to tallies Wednesday.

The IA scored 43.7 per cent of the vote, almost double its share in the 2005 elections.

Turnout in Tuesday's vote was some 71 per cent of 39,900 eligible voters.

The Siumut party that has dominated the political scene for the past three decades dropped 3.9 percentage points to 26.5 per cent, and appeared to have suffered from a series of claims scandals and abuse of public funds.

Greenland Premier Hans Enoksen blamed media coverage partly for the defeat, but conceded that the social democratic Siumut party would have to change its policies to recover the trust of voters, the AG newspaper reported.

Siumut's conservative allies Atassut got almost 11 per cent of the vote, down from 19 per cent in 2005.

The Democrats, who want to keep ties with Denmark, dropped almost half their vote share and are down at 12.7 per cent.

The island, with a population of just under 60,000, is part of the kingdom of Denmark.

Enoksen, who has been premier since 2002, called the early elections in April, saying voters should have a say over who should rule Greenland as it enters a new era with more autonomy within Denmark.

The sparsely populated Arctic island is to celebrate the 30th anniversary of home rule on June 21, when an enhanced self-rule bill approved last year is also scheduled to take effect.

The plan approved in November 2008 would give Greenland partial control over its natural resources and allow it to take greater charge of justice and legal affairs.

Danish subsidies, known as the block grant, would continue.(dpa)