Greenlandic opposition prepares to form government after election NUUK, Greenland, March 13 (UPI) -- The opposition Siumut Party appeared to have won a plurality of the 31 seats in the Greenlandic Parliament, officials said early Wednesday. The vote paves the way for Aleqa Hammond, the party leader, to become the country's first female prime minister, the Sermitsiaq newspaper reported. The Siumut executive committee was scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss forming a coalition government. Greenland is currently a semi-autonomous territory under the Danish crown, although its citizens voted overwhelmingly in a non-binding 2008 referendum for complete independence. The key issue in this election is development of Greenland's mineral wealth with critics saying that Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist has been too quick to make deals with foreign companies. Mineral rights, which have become more important as dwindling glaciers expose new deposits, attracted an unusual amount of attention to this election in a country with only 57,000 residents. In the past year, the president of South Korea has visited Greenland and Kleist was invited to a state dinner for the Chinese president in Copenhagen. Kleist said he had had to make tough decisions during his time as prime minister. Siumut, Greenlandic for Forward or Progressive, and Kleist's Inuit Ataqatigiit or Community of the People Party have generally similar platforms. Both advocate socialism and independence from Denmark. Most Greenlanders are of Inuit descent. More than 25 percent of the population lives in the capital, Nuuk, and most of the rest in a handful of communities along the southwest coast.