Norway: 26 MPs in favour of republic, 137 against

The members of the Storting, the Norwegian Parliament, voted today over a constitutional bill (Dokument 12:10 (2011-2012)) to change the form of government from monarchy to republic. The bill, which traditionally is put forward by the Socialistic Left Party* every fourth year or so, got 28 votes, which later were corrected to 26, as two MPs had voted in error.

This was the 12th (or was it the 13th?) time the Storting has voted over the question about the form of government. There was of course never any danger of a constittional majority for such a bill, but is is nevertheless a way for the republican minority to demonstrate their principles and to initiate a debate. Or to put it another way, the 137 MPs who voted against the bill demonstrated how strong the people's support of the monarchical form of government still is. Of course, if Norway had decided to start from scratch, a republic certainly would have been established. But that is exactly the point. A majority of the people don't want to throw away a thousand years of tradition and history. The majority of MPs mirrors the wish of the people.

If the bill had got a constitutional majority (2/3), the republic would not have been adopted right away, as the proposal said that the bill would come into force on 1 January the year after the people had voted in favour of the bill in a referendum The referendum should take place no later than 31 September 2017.

As explained at the website of the Storting, a «proposal to amend the text of the Constitution must be submitted to the Storting during one of the first three years of a four-year parliamentary term. Even if the right of initiative belongs to the government, such proposals are normally presented by individual members of Parliament. Such proposals cannot be considered by the Storting until one of the first three years of the next parliamentary term, a system that provides an opportunity for the electorate to have its say through the election of the new Parliament. The proposal is considered by the Storting in a sitting in which at least two-thirds of the members of the Storting must be present to constitute a quorum. Of these, at least two-thirds must vote in favour of the proposal in order for it to be adopted.»

Of the 26 MPs who voted in favour of the republican bill, 16 MPs represented the Labour Party, 6 the Socialist Left Party and 3 the Liberals. The remaining vote was made by a member of the Conservative Party. 137 MPs voted against the bill, while 6 MPs were not present in the Storting today.

In 2010 17 MPs voted in favour of the bill (Dokument nr. 12:3 (2007-2008)), while 125 were against. In March 2013 the Storting debated a proposal to start a process leading to the introduction of a republic, but the proposal only got 11 votes (against 83). An alternative proposal got 17 votes (against 75).

*Traditionally the republican bill has been put forward by members of the Socialist Left Party only, but this time also four members of the Labour Party were behind it.

Updated on Thursday 31 March 2016 at 22.05 (number of Labour MPs behind the proposal corrected).

Information about the abdication process by the Spanish Presidency of the Government

Following yesterday's announcement of King Juan Carlos' decision to abdicate the throne, the Presidency of the Government of Spain published the following information concerning the abdication process after today's extraordinary government meeting:

• Government approves Draft Constitutional Law on the abdication of King Juan Carlos I
• Draft Constitutional Law on the abdication of HM King Juan Carlos I de Borbón 

See also the website of the Congress of Deputies, where the bill has been registered (Proyecto de Ley Orgánica por la que se hace efectiva la abdicación de Su Majestad el Rey Don Juan Carlos I de Borbón. (121/000098)).

The vote on the bill (in both chambers) is expected to take place in mid June. The organic law (the abdication act) will then come into effect as soon as it has been published in the Legal Gazette (BOE). Still waiting for confirmation, but as of now it seems that the new king, Felipe VI, will be proclaimed and will take the oath (in accordance with the Constitution Article 61) on 18 June 2014.

Postscript 6 June 2014: According to El Pais 6 June 2014 the proclamation ceremony will take place on Thursday 19 June 2014.

Uupdated on Wednesday 4 June 2014 at 09.00 (typo corrected), last time updated on 6 June 2014 at 15.15 (postscript added).

NTB gjør ikke hjemmeleksen sin - litt om den spanske Grunnloven og kong Juan Carlos' abdikasjon

Andre lands grunnlover kan være en utfordring å forstå. Men man må likevel kunne forvente at norske journalister gjør hjemmeleksen sin. Dessverre har NTB slurvet i sin dekning av kong Juan Carlos' beslutning om å abdisere og lovprosessen som vil finne sted i kjølvannet av beslutningen.

I VG Direkte tidligere i dag (kl. 18.00) kunne man lese følgende om dagens regjeringsmøte:

Godkjenner spanskekongens abdikasjon
Den spanske grunnloven hadde ingen paragraf som omhandler abdikasjon, og derfor må grunnloven endres før Kong Juan Carlos (76) kan overlate tronen til kronprins Felipe (46).
Den spanske regjeringen godkjente en grunnlovsendring i et ekstraordinært møte tirsdag, og den må nå vedtas i nasjonalforsamlingen, melder NTB.

NTB har åpenbart ikke sjekket fakta. For hva er det den spanske Grunnloven artikkel (seksjon) 57 pkt. 5 sier? Kan man ikke spansk, kan man finne mange oversettelser på nettet, for eksempel på hjemmesiden til det spanske parlamentet, Legislationonline.org eller ICL. Punkt 5 sier følgende:

Abdications and renunciations and any doubt in fact or in law that may arise in connection with the succession to the Crown shall be settled by an organic act.

Med andre ord, Grunnloven har så absolutt en paragraf som omhandler abdikasjon! Tirsdag 2. juni 2014 offentliggjorde kong Juan Carlos sin beslutning om å abdisere i form av et signert brev til den spanske statsministeren, Mariano Rajoy. I dagens regjeringsmøte ble det derfor besluttet å fremme et lovforslag (Proyecto de Ley Orgánica por la que se hace efectiva la abdicación de Su Majestad el Rey Don Juan Carlos I de Borbón. (121/000098)) om abdikasjonen i det spanske parlamentet (Cortes Generales). Med andre ord, det vedtas en såkalt "organisk lov" ("konstitusjonell lov") med hjemmel i Grunnloven, men dette er ikke en grunnlovsendring, som krever en helt annen prosedyre.

Etter vedtaket i parlamentet trer loven i kraft så snart den er publisert i det spanske Lovtidend (Boletín Oficial del Estado, forkortet til BOE), som forklart av det spanske SMK i dag. Juan Carlos vil da være "konstitusjonelt død" og sønnen Felipe VI overtar tronen umiddelbart, men kan først utøve sin kongegjerning når han har avlagt eden. Mange ulike datoer har vært nevnt, men det ser ut til at stemmegivningen i Congreso de los Diputados (deputerkammeret) vil finne sted fredag 13. juni, før loven går videre til Senatet. Per i dag tyder mye at kong Felipe (jf. Grunnloven artikkel 61) vil bli proklamert og vil avlegge eden 18. juni, men den endelige datoen er ennå ikke offisielt fastsatt.

Alt dette kunne NTB enkelt ha funnet ut av selv hvis man hadde tatt seg tid til å oppsøke offisielle spanske kilder (som Statsministerens kontor og Deputerkammeret) og den engelske versjonen til El Pais mfl. Leserne fortjener bedre enn det NTB har servert i dag.

Etterskrift 4. juni 2014: Ifølge en pressemelding på Deputerkammerets nettside vil behandlingen i Deputerkammeret finne sted onsdag 11. juni.

Etterskrift 6. juni 2014: Ifølge El Pais 6. juni 2014 vil proklamasjonen og edsavleggelsen finne sted torsdag 19. juni 2014.

Oppdatert onsdag 4. juni 2014 kl. 11.00 (etterskrift tilføyd); sist oppdatert fredag 6. juni 2014 kl. 15.15 (etterskrift tilføyd).

King Juan Carlos of Spain to abdicate

The Spanish Royal Court most surprisingly announced this morning that King Juan Carlos, who has reigned since 1975, has decided to abdicate the throne. The decision was communicated to prime minister Mariano Rajoy in form of a signed letter (see picture above). Later the same day the king appeared on Spanish TV explaining his decision.

In accordance with the Constitution of Spain Article 57,5, the Government will soon propose a bill to the Parliament (Cortes Generales). The so-called "organic law" (constitutional law) will have to be passed by both houses and will come into effect when it has been published in the legal gazette. According to the Spanish media today the process is expected to take place before the end of June. The newspaper El Mundo outlines the process here (in Spanish).

King Juan Carlos' only son, Felipe, Prince of Asturias, will succeed the throne as Felipe VI.

Although there has been some speculations over a possible abdication for some time, following the scandals that have surrounded the royal house the last few years, most people were taken by surprise by the news this morning. The decision is by many commentators interpreted as an effort to save the monarchy, given its declining popularity. The king's poor health has also been pointed out as a main reason.

It is kind of sad that King Juan Carlos' reign ends this way, leaving the throne during such an institutional crisis. He has on several occasions demonstrated his lack of judgment both in his public role and in his personal life. Fortunately his successor seems to be much more in touch with the lives of the Spaniards and will hopefully give the institution the "new energy" it needs.

But despite all the scandals, King Juan Carlos will have to be remembered for his role in Spain's transition to democracy following the Franco dictatorship and for the way he handled the coup in 1981. 

See Prime Minister ("President of Government") Mariano Rajoy's comments here and the statement (in Spanish) of the President of the Congress of Deputies, Jesús Portada, here.

Updated on Tuesday 17 June 2014 at 09.45 (change of url for one link).