‘I want to make myself obsolete’: the MP fighting for Greenland’s self-governance

Qarsoq Høegh-Dam aims to use his seat in Danish parliament to shift power from Copenhagen to Nuuk It’s not the standard motto for a newly elected parliamentarian, but Qarsoq Høegh-Dam is adamant: if he does his job properly, there will soon be no need for it. “I want to make myself as obsolete as possible,” he said. Last month, Høegh-Dam, a Greenlandic politician, became the first member of the pro-independence Naleraq to be elected to the Danish parliament. The new MP is clear that if all goes to plan, the largely autonomous Arctic territory will be the sole responsibility of the parliament in Nuuk, the island’s capital. And there will no longer be any need for two seats representing Greenland in Copenhagen, its former colonial ruler. “Greenland and the Greenlandic people are to be the responsibility of the Greenlandic parliament and the Greenlandic government. So the primary objective is: I will have succeeded if I am no longer relevant,” he said with a laugh. The Danish general election – in which Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats won the most votes but not a clear majority – followed one of the most precarious moments of Denmark’s recent history, when